Posted on 01/10/2007 1:53:55 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
As someone born in late 1945, I say this to the 76 million or so subsequent baby boomers and particularly to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, our generation's leading politicians: Shame on us. We are trying to rob our children and grandchildren, putting the country's future at risk in the process. On one of the great issues of our time, the social and economic costs of our retirement, we have adopted a policy of selfish silence.
As Congress reconvenes, pledges of "fiscal responsibility" abound. Let me boldly predict: On retirement spending, this Congress will do nothing, just as previous Congresses have done nothing. Nancy Pelosi promises to "build a better future for all of America's children." If she were serious, she would back cuts in Social Security and Medicare. President Bush calls "entitlement spending" the central budget problem. If he were serious, he, too, would propose cuts in Social Security and Medicare.
They are not serious, because few Americans -- particularly prospective baby-boom retirees -- want them to be. There is a consensus against candor, because there is no constituency for candor. It's no secret that the 65-and-over population will double by 2030 (to almost 72 million, or 20 percent of the total population), but hardly anyone wants to face the implications:
By comparison, other budget issues, including the notorious earmarks, are trivial. In 2005, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (the main programs for the elderly) cost $1.034 trillion, twice the amount of defense spending and more than two-fifths of the total federal budget. These programs are projected to equal about three-quarters of the budget by 2030, if it remains constant as a share of national income.
Preserving present retirement benefits automatically imposes huge costs on the young -- costs that are economically unsound and socially unjust.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Tell ya what, just give me my money back from what SS and medicare/medicaid has taken and I won't take ANY SS or medicare.medicade.
That's okay; I'll have to liquidate my inheritance anyway. It will be in asssets, and I won't be able to afford the death tax.
You know, that is something I hadn't thought of.
" but if people were smarter, outcomes would be better"
The left has had a strangle-hold on the education apparatus for decades. They do not wish people to be smart. Actually they would cease to exist if people were properly educated.
GWB also attempted to cut the growth rate by tying the yearly Social Security increases to the CPI rate rather than the inflation rate, or something like that.
The DemoCraps screamed bloody murder, accusing GWB of "cutting" the life out of seniors, or some such baloney rhetoric.
The original SS "retirement age" exceeded an American's average life expectancy - maybe its time to up the age requirment accordingly?
"I'll have to liquidate my inheritance anyway. It will be in asssets, and I won't be able to afford the death tax. "
Talk to the Kennedys. They seemed to know how to avoid a lot of taxes when Jackie died .
If you read the full article and pursued any of the 4 links Samuelson provided in that article to op-eds written in late 2004 and early 2005, you'll see that he has written on this subject in great depth and passion before. This is the "good" Samuelson -- one of the best writers on economic and political economics out there. And he did give Bush credit for trying to reform Social Security, but he ultimately cast criticism at Bush for the huge entitlement expansion in Medicare which has a worse problem than Social Security. And he was also critical of the President's shielding most Baby Boomers from any potential benefit cut (I'm sure the President viewed that as the only way, politically, that this could be pursued).
I agree: the talking heads and Samuelson should heep most of their disdain on the Dems who never offered to even join the debate. And I don't see enough criticism of Clinton who had the best opportunity to address entitlement reform (this was Clinton's "Bridge to the 21st Century" built by the "cans kicked down the road" for following administrations). I also agree that Bush's private accounts and transition plan is the right way to permanently fix Social Security -- and I wish Samuelson would give Bush some credit for that. But I think he's stuck on the refusal of these political "leaders" to do the responsible thing which is to make the case for benefit cuts for all coming into Social Security benefit season.
You can only avoid reality for so long. But for some people it's worth doing on someone else's dime.
"...instead of being plundered and squandered, there would be enough. ..."
You just pulled back the curtain from the elephant standing in the room. Nobody wants to talk about the generational theft that the congress and courts are engaged in.
If the board of a private company had raided the workers' pension fund, the thieves in congress would be circling the capital and howling like apes. And the left wing media would be flapping their arms calling for heads to be chopped off.
There are still ways out of this mess, but I'm not looking for a knight on a white horse to save us.
Every person will need to find a way to park some portion of his wealth out of reach of the criminals in Washington. I fully expect that these thieves will be trying to raid visible investments next.
Another "Boomer Bashing" thread... Sometimes I think the people who post these are just trolls trying to stir up divisiveness on this board.
I got a few more years to go but I, too, am strongly considering grabbing whatver they offer as soon as I can get it. Privatization is in deep hibernation for awhile.
Sorry, untrue. Live expectancy at birth in 1937 was over 66 years; retirement age is 65. However, your basic point that the increase in life expectancy has been a major factor in social security's financing problem is right on the mark
Note to self: Don't rely on memory for statistics. Little Ray is correct. My apologies.
Here is the information from the Social Security Administration's website:
Unless they decide to become world travelers and blow it all. Bumper stickers saying "We are spending our childrens' inheritance" on RVs indicate that is the case.
What I saw was no fix. It simply took the bogus T-bills and transferred them from the government to private accounts. They're still bogus at the end of the day because the government would still be spending the surplus.
"Tell ya what, just give me my money back from what SS and medicare/medicaid has taken and I won't take ANY SS or medicare.medicade."
Better yet, I will take the hit and just forfeit what they have already taken and if they just let me opt out now, I will not file any claim for SS or medicare......
It is amazing to me that now that the Dems are in power, everyone is complaining that GWB is doing nothing about SS reform, yet when he was trying to get SS reform everyone complained that he was going to make old ladies eat cat food. All he wanted to do was allow people to CHOSE whether to start an account with a SMALL percentage of the SS witholding.
Yet the talking heads convinced the American sheeple that private ownership of their retirement was a bad thing. Better to rely on mommy and daddy in DC than to take personal responsibility. That is one of the many reasons why I am convinced the Republic is dead!
(Many FReeperes are not included in the comments above!)
Depends on the relationships of the parents and children .If the kids are total a$$holes they will be on the outside looking in. Can't blame the parents for how kids turn out . The best parents end up with kids who are out of control many times . Peer pressure and Madison Avenue are a big factor in what kids do away from the home nowadays ( as well as the propaganda left leaning educators .)
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