Well the Democrats have a plan on what they want to do to address the budget mess in Washington. Unfortunately, it is forcing the supposed "Greatest Generation" to make a choice.They can either continue to enjoy their monthly government checks, which came about because of reforms enacted by FDR and later Democrats in the form of their Social Security checks and Medicare, or they can squander away all of their sacrifice in WWII by relegating the United States to a third world status as far as military might is concerned, thereby quite possibly enabling yet another world war. You see, in the history of mankind the one constant has always been the presence of a super power, and without that presence we devolve into chaos. For reference see: Decline of Roman Empire and the Dark Ages.
The blueprint would take nearly $900 billion from the Pentagon over the next decade — the same amount recommended by Obama’s fiscal commission. It would slice more than $350 billion from domestic programs. And it would produce interest savings of nearly $600 billion attributable to reduced borrowing.That is the Democrats' big plan. Cut the defense budget ten times more then Medicare. Of course, once the defense department is gone the rest of us won't have to worry about Medicare because I am sure whichever benevolent dictator takes over will take care of us just fine.
Only about $80 billion would be cut from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs, and nothing from Social Security. But even without touching those programs, the plan would stabilize borrowing by 2014 and begin pushing the national debt down as a share of the economy.
You see, for me that is exactly what the matter boils down to. Which path is it that our senior citizens are willing to take America down. Continue to enjoy the government largess, regardless of how short-lived it may be, or once again have to make a sacrifice, which, in reality, in all of the plans proposed by Republicans is really no sacrifice at all. Seniors are being scared by the liberals painting pictures of them eating cat food and being wheeled off cliffs because of Republican budget plans, when in fact they all state that no changes will occur for those currently receiving benefits. In other words, it is my generation which will have to make the sacrifice, which to me wouldn't have been much of a sacrifice if the damn Dems hadn't opposed every reform effort directed at Social Security that would have allowed for some private, personal investment options rather then the crappy return the government gives for the deduction from my paycheck.
So what is it, seniors? Do you sit by on your little Rascal and watch a country that your generation fought and died for and sacrificed so much for in the 40's become merely a puppet on the world stage, or will you shut the hell up and quit being cowed into a corner by the boogeymen created by the liberals? Right now your legacy is one of bringing freedom to the world, but how much longer before you become vilified and cited as the cause of causing a once great nation to descend into the dustbin of history well before its time?
Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for the WWII generation, and it is time for you to enjoy your benefits, but please, PLEASE, step out of the way and let my generation address the problems and develop solutions which will work for us just as you devised solutions for your generation. Time marches on, and the only constant is change. All I am asking is look at the details, and when the plan says no changes for you, shut up! We should not have to sacrifice the security of this nation just to ensure the continuation of programs for your generation. If it were up to me I would already be sunsetting Medicare completely. I would keep it in place for seniors or those, say, 50 years old and up. For those younger, it is time to come up with a completely new method and I don't mean one reliant on the government, either. As far as Social Security, same thing. If somebody wants to stay invested in the Ponzi scheme, fine, let them, but as for me, I would like to take my chances with some private investment choices that will provide a far greater return on my investment and wouldn't be tied to the stability of the government, used as a weapon by elected politicians every election cycle. I have heard the damn issue brought up every time there is a national election since I am old enough to remember, and nothing has ever been done.
Well, seniors, the ball is in your court. With any luck, your benefits won't run out before the country dissolves if you support the Democrat plan.
10 comments:
I think we need to quit defering to the WW II generation, itself. The freakin' war ended 66 years ago (that's only 10 years less than the gap between the Civil War and WW II). Anyone who fought in WW II is at least in their late 80's. There are about 2 million vets left, and they are dying off at about 1000 per day. For them the rest of us must suffer? Will it be OK to change things when every last one of them is dead?
The problem isn't the 50+ crowd. The problem is that the "the plan says no changes for you" aspect isn't clearly and completely communicated to them. All they hear is the same old refrain from the libs and their allies in the MSM: the republicans want to reduce the debt by cutting Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid.
My father is a WWII vet, and one thing that he keeps saying is "I paid into the system all my life, and now they want to take it away." I try to explain how various proposals won't affect him, but he keeps reading in the paper and hearing on the news that this is the end of Social Security etc. This is a very real concern to him and his fellow seniors. Don't underestimate their fear of being left destitute. And don't underestimate the despicably ruthless methods the libs use to play on that fear.
I would love to have the option to invest my Social Security 'contribution' into a private retirement account, similar to a 401(k). Ditto for Medicare and Medicaid. This is our best chance in decades to implement meaningful reform to those entitlement programs. Unfortunately, it's degraded into name-calling instead of doing what's best for the country.
Analogy: Refusing to address Social Security is analagous to someone knowing that you gave money to Bernie Maddoff and know that he is running a scam but insisting that he he be able to take new money from suckers so he can pay you back, You become complicit to the crime of robbing the current generation.
The brazeness of the scam is highlighted by the SSA sending out reports written reports on "personal" acounts as though the money sent in by you and your employer was saved in an account. Just like Madoff making up account statements and sending them out. He is in jail, why are the leeches running the scam of SS walking the streets and being paid by taxpayers to perpetuate the fraud?
Like it or not, the money paid in is long gone, used to fund operating expenses of the federal government.
38% of the people receiving SS benefits are not even retirees. They get disability or are children/spouses of deceased workers/retirees. And I am sure there is no fraud involved, either. At least the retirees themselves have actually paid $$ into the program for years. The rest are just taking with little or no contribution. BTW, I am not retired and do not expect to see a dime from all of my contributions.
And that is exactly my point. Nobody is talking about taking anything away from you. Get It. You are good. We need to make changes for the younger generations.
I believe that not changing things for those seniors, but change for future generations, is the author's point. No need to stop "defering" to a generation who in truth is deserving of our reverence, and emulation: there should rather be an outcry at the media's obvious and shameless twisting of facts and use of scare tactics toward people near the end of their lives, who believed what was previosly promised, and voted for the support of this system. It is their money: it was taken without their consent, and should be given back.
My husband and I have both topped out the SS withholding. We will most likely never see that money again: it is ours, and they took it from us. We are about to fall between the cracks of a bad deal. Because the greedy gubment robbed us through the back door.
It's not really the "Greatest Generation" that's the problem. As noted below, they're in their mid-80s (at youngest), and they're dropping off right and left. These people also produced enough people to pay for them in the Baby Boom. Medicare and SocSec can last long enough to cover them.
What is the problem are the Boomers, and the generation between the"Greatest" and the Boomers (my in-laws are in that pile). That older generation is already getting their Medicare & SocSec bennies, but the Boomers have just started. The real peak of the Boomers didn't occur until the late 50s, so we're going to be chugging through those guys for a while.
So yes, they can come up with something that doesn't hit the really really old people, but does hit the Boomers and younger. Because any reasonable SocSec/Medicare reform is going to have to hit the Boomers hard. They didn't have enough children, and they're retiring too young if they retire at 65, so things have to be adjusted accordingly.
As a 57 year old I can tell you that I have deep embarrassment and regret about how my generation has handled SS and Medicare. For the most part the boomers have been personally irresponsible with their finances leaving most of them in precarious financial shape entering retirement.
I believe in shared sacrifice, however I don't believe anyone currently over the age of 60 should see anything change in their promised benefits. It's not their fault they were served a bill of goods by a bunch of lying politicians and bureaucrats.
With that said, it's time for the rest of my generation to grow up and take some responsibility. No one who has been paying even the slightest attention for the last twenty years can claim ignorance when it comes to the problems we now face with SS and Medicare. We should agree to lower payouts, higher deductables and means testing if that's what it will take to help balance the scales.
Our fathers fought the great war so we could continue to live in the greatest country on earth. It's time for my generation to honor that sacrifice by doing our part to ensure that their legacy continues.
I'm in my 20's and here's how I see it:
Anyone who's under 30 right now is seriously facing down the prospect of paying into the system their whole lives and never seeing a dime of it. The only way we can pay for current benefits is to suck the younger generations dry.
If half of my generation knew just how badly they were going to be shafted, we would have a civil war between the younger generation and the old.
I don't see which one is worse [in my mind both are just as bad]: We have a younger generation looking at the prospect of being robbed of their very lives, or an older generation being robbed of everything they put into the system.
I've given up trying to discuss this moral quandry if this damn mess and tried to push my mental efforts towards fixing a more practical problem: 'When the crap hits the fan, what am I going to use: 5.56 or 7.62?'
I'm 58. I served for 20 years on active duty. I, too, have paid into the system all of my life. I don't know the answer to our screwed up federal government, other than, I'm using 7.62 x 39, 45 ACP, and 12 Ga. :)
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