[kabar]

By 2030 there will be just two workers for every retiree. In 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree and today there are three. We are going to tax to death our children and grandchildren to pay our entitlement benefits.

U.S. Census Bureau Projections Show a Slower Growing, Older, More Diverse Nation a Half Century from Now

According to the projections, the population age 65 and older is expected to more than double between 2012 and 2060, from 43.1 million to 92.0 million. The older population would represent just over one in five U.S. residents by the end of the period, up from one in seven today. The increase in the number of the “oldest old” would be even more dramatic — those 85 and older are projected to more than triple from 5.9 million to 18.2 million, reaching 4.3 percent of the total population.

Baby boomers, defined as persons born between 1946 and 1964, number 76.4 million in 2012 and account for about one-quarter of the population. In 2060, when the youngest of them would be 96 years old, they are projected to number around 2.4 million and represent 0.6 percent of the total population.

The proportion of the population younger than 18 is expected to change little over the 2012-2060 period, decreasing from 23.5 percent to 21.2 percent.

In 2056, for the first time, the older population, age 65 and over, is projected to outnumber the young, age under 18.

Eventually, the load will be lightened by the natural process we call death. We are experiencing a huge and growing glut of seniors, but in time their numbers will evaporate like water on a hot driveway. Hang in there.

I don't know how old you are, but I will never see it.

[Tau Food]

Wow. You've done a great job there.

I'm one of the older of the Baby Boomers. Fortunately, I should be able to stay out of the wagon. I know many SS/Medicare recipients who don't really need the help, but they take it anyway. Obviously, as this crisis worsens, many of them will be forced out of the wagon. However, there are also many, many seniors who will never be self-sufficient.

Your charts illustrate the problem. But, as indicated, I like to look beyond the crisis. Right now, we have a large and growing number of benefit-hungry Baby Boomer seniors who are going to be a real burden for awhile. After we're gone, though, this country is going to have a real opportunity to get back to having a small government.