Old people living on my dime.

The Citizen ^ | 9/25/06 | Staff

[gopheraj]

Exactly. Hubby just now qualifies for old fart discounts (62 in Sept) and most of the ones we see are about a dollar. Not too big a deal to even get your ID out for.

[trillabodilla]

Why aren't people expected to be RESPONSIBLE and plan for their own future, and SAVE MONEY on their own, by living beneath their means, etc.

Why does it have to fall on the government, i.e., the taxpayers?

I know, I know, preaching to the choir here!
Praise the Lord anyhow!

[avile]

Don't give me that class hatred crap.

The elderly just did not pay their fair share in FICA taxes and the young are being penalized for it.

SHOULD THE ELDERLY RECEIECVE MORE THAN THEY PAID IN?

[shhrubbery!]

I'd like to see the end of all public schools and the NEA. America began without either one, and America would be better off without both.

That said, there are elderly people in my predominantly blue-collar neighborhood who suffer from property tax increases. Some have lived here forty years, and hoped to stay in their homes for the rest of their lives. But they're forced to sell because they can't pay the tax.

(Will they make a big profit when they sell? Yes --but then, buying or renting anywhere else in the area is prohibitively expensive too.)

Recently the situation got even worse. With real estate prices skyrocketing, our town decided to do a property tax revaluation.

My house, which we bought for $135,000 in 1992, was just revalued for tax purposes to $450,000! (And as I said, this is not a fancy area.) Our property taxes have gone up about 40%.

[from occupied ga]

Don't give me that class hatred crap.

That's funny since you're the one oozing class hatred.

The elderly just did not pay their fair share in FICA taxes and the young are being penalized for it.

I didn't want to get into it, but since you persist in falsely claiming the elderly don't pay their "fair share" (whatever that means) I'll give you a few facts that you are either ignorant of or choose to ignore.

1. people with children GET A TAX BREAK on their income taxes for each dependent. Old farts do not. Do you want to eliminate this tax break too or do you just want to make sure the old people continue to get screwed? In short younger people with children aren't paying THEIR "fair share" are they?
2. The top 10% of taxpayers pay 68% of taxes. The top 50% pays 96% of the taxes. The top taxpayers ARE for the most part older people. Do you want to even the tax burden out. How about splitting the tax burden evenly among all taxpayers? Do you think that's a good idea or are you going to admit your love of the "progressive" tax system

People like you who want to stick it to one segment of the population disgust me.

[conservative cat]

We paid property taxes and private school.

Same here- it's pricey!

[Huntress]

You two must have missed the part of my post that says the decision to offer discounts is up to the business owner. I'm not espousing socialism, I just get tired people whining that they need a discount because they're old, they have kids, or whatever.

[Smokin' Joe]

What needs to be done is an overall true "cut" in all non-defense spending ioncluding Social Security, Medicare, and useless departments of the government, e.g., Education, HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Sallie Mae, Agriculture, etc. etc.

What??? Return the Federal Government to within its Constitutional bounds??

The horror...the horror...

Never happen. Too many people think it should be their nanny and sugar daddy all wrapped up into one.

I'm all for it, though!

[avile]

Calendar year Tax rates as a percent of taxable earnings
Rate for employees and employers, each Rate for self-employed persons
OASDI HI Total OASDI HI Total
1937-49 1.000 -- 1.000 -- -- --
1950 1.500 -- 1.500 -- -- --
1951-53 1.500 -- 1.500 2.250 -- 2.250
1954-56 2.000 -- 2.000 3.000 -- 3.000
1957-58 2.250 -- 2.250 3.375 -- 3.375
1959 2.500 -- 2.500 3.750 -- 3.750
1960-61 3.000 -- 3.000 4.500 -- 4.500
1962 3.125 -- 3.125 4.700 -- 4.700
1963-65 3.625 -- 3.625 5.400 -- 5.400
1966 3.850 0.350 4.200 5.800 0.350 6.150
1967 3.900 0.500 4.400 5.900 0.500 6.400
1968 3.800 0.600 4.400 5.800 0.600 6.400
1969-70 4.200 0.600 4.800 6.300 0.600 6.900
1971-72 4.600 0.600 5.200 6.900 0.600 7.500
1973 4.850 1.000 5.850 7.000 1.000 8.000
1974-77 4.950 0.900 5.850 7.000 0.900 7.900
1978 5.050 1.000 6.050 7.100 1.000 8.100
1979-80 5.080 1.050 6.130 7.050 1.050 8.100
1981 5.350 1.300 6.650 8.000 1.300 9.300
1982-83 5.400 1.300 6.700 8.050 1.300 9.350
1984 1 5.700 1.300 7.000 11.400 2.600 14.000
1985 1 5.700 1.350 7.050 11.400 2.700 14.100
1986-871 5.700 1.450 7.150 11.400 2.900 14.300
1988-891 6.060 1.450 7.510 12.120 2.900 15.020
1990 and later 6.200 1.450 7.650 12.400 2.900 15.300


I know you don't want to be confused with the facts, but if you look at the above chart, it is obvious (as if you don't already know) that the elderly did not pay a fair share.

It has been a PONZI scheme all along with the original paying only 1% on only a small amount of income.

Now since the elderly did not pay a fair share in relation to what people are now paying
DO THEY DESERVE A WINDFALL OF MORE THAN THEY PAID IN?

IS IT RIGHT THAT TAXPAYERS NOW HAVE TO PAY MUCH MORE THAN THEY DID.
I'm sure that if you will respond it will be a non-sequitor.

[DustyMoment]

You two must have missed the part of my post that says the decision to offer discounts is up to the business owner.

Sorry. No I didn't miss it, I just took the opportunity to launch my own diatribe. My comments were not necessarily directed at you or your comments. Please accept my apologies for not being more clear in my intent.

[from occupied ga]

I know you don't want to be confused with the facts

You're the one ignoring the facts. You're IGNORING the income tax (BIG) and concentrating on the social security tax (little) If you look at the total tax burden that old people pay, it is considerably greater than younger ones for the reasons I already listed. I noticed that you didn't respond to any of my questions about equilizing the tax burden or eliminating the dependent child deduction. Don't try blowing pink smoke up anyone's a$$ here this isn't DU.

[avile]

I suppose most elderly did not have children.
But you still refuse to respond to how the elderly did not pay their fair share of FICA- I wonder why.

Also since most elderly have retired and are not working they are not paying much in income taxes and their wealth is largely in accrued assets.

Are you still going to avoid answering the FICA discrepancy?

[avile]

Too simplify things further:

Who pays more in taxes ?

1. a 75 year old retiree with a net worth of 1.5 million who gets medicare and soc security (even though the money he paid in was used up by age 68) "Thank you uncle sucker"-grandpa Simpson


2. a 35 year old with a salary of 150,000 but a net worth of 200k?

SHOULD PEOPLE GET MORE OUT OF SOC. SECURITY THAN THEY PUT IN?

SHOULD YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE THEIR FICA RAISED TO 13% TO SUBSIDIZE THOSE WHO PAID 3%?

[linda_22003]

Exactly. I'm next door in Fairfax County and I do not have children, but I do not mind paying for the schools.

[avile]

"The top 10% of taxpayers pay 68% of taxes. The top 50% pays 96% of the taxes. The top taxpayers ARE for the most part older people. "

OUR SYSTEM TAXES INCOME NOT WEALTH.

While the elderly are the wealthiest group by age , they unless they still work are not taxed the same as wealthy INCOME EARNING young people.
And since most elderly had children and received child write offs for 18 years each, theybenefitted more than younger people who have young kids.
you truly are disingenuous.

[Melas]

What pile of trashed penned this poison piece? If there is one thing about generation X that I'm learning to despise, it is it's pathological hatred of gray hair and it's total obessesion with youth. The coming years are going to be extremely hard on Gen X when the fountain of youth is never found and X'ers grow old.

[Melas]

Nothing prevents anyone from getting another job

That's utter stupidity. In old age, more often than not, health plays a large role. We'd all like to pretend that we're all going to be healthy and as mentally alert as we are now, while we are in our senior years, but the reality is that very few of us will be.

[from occupied ga]

I suppose most elderly did not have children.

I suppose most elderly did not have children.

So what? Their children (usually) have long since passed beyond the stage where they can be claimed as dependents. And if you're making the argument that they got their advantage in the past, then there is an equal argument that the current young will get their advantage in the future.

But you still refuse to respond to how the elderly did not pay their fair share of FICA- I wonder why.

They don't, again so what. This is a very small part of their overall lifetime tax load. You refuse to respond to the fact that those with dependent children get a free(er) ride on income tax. Since you're so hot to see it stuck to the elderly I wonder are you equally hot to see those who are currently squirting our kids lose their ability to deduct them. 88% of the federal budget is wealth transfer of one sort or another where the government takes from the taxpayer and gives to soemone else. Most elderly have paid off their mortgages and no longer get a mortgage interes deduction. Are you equally hot to see that go away?

Also since most elderly have retired and are not working they are not paying much in income taxes and their wealth is largely in accrued assets

Now we come to the crux of the matter - envy. Those old farts with assets worked and saved their entire lives to get them, and people like you just can't stand to see that.

I'm going out on a limb here and make a guess, but I'd guess that you don't have much in the way of assets and are relatively young, since you appear to be completely fixated on the part of the tax system that gives old people an advantage, but are apparently unbothered by glaring "unfairnesses" that go to younger. I've answered your questions, but you still refuse to answer mine, so either answer them or go back to DU where they all think just like you do.

[MissAmericanPie]

Why don't we just put the elderly on ice flows and push them out to sea? A nation, a people, can be identified by how they treat their elderly. Honor thy Father and thy Mother, one of the Ten Commandments, in the time it was given many people of the earth did just that, put them on ice flows and shoved them out to sea, or gave them a little water and food and send them on their way. God's people were not to do that kind of thing. So I take it that what you are saying is that we can send billions upon billions in aid to ungreatful America hating nations to educate the poor to hate America. Educate, feed, medicate every illegal that holds his hand out that has never paid taxes, make it impossible for the elderly of a certain income to collect any type of benefit. All the causes in the world yet you choose the elderly to get your hackles up.

The Congress, more than once raided the Social Security fund and stole their savings to the point that they are making a pentence of what they should be making, they deny them the right to earn more than twelve thousand a year without penalty, raise their property taxes, the cost of medicine, throw them a couple of dimes to cover the cost of living, and the elderly are the ones you want to kick in the shin. What a proud Mom you must have, God help her.

[blam]

"My grandparents paid in. Didn't get a dime. My parents paid in all their lives. They didn't get a dime. All of them died to young."

I had two brothers (one older, one younger) who died at age 51,both paid in all their lives, amount received = zero.