[cogitator]

Sobering long-term projections in this. And it has very little to do with the ups and downs of the business cycle, aided and abetted by, or discouraged by, tax policy.

[Alberta's Child]

". . . average citizens have been enablers of the politics of denial. No less than their leaders, they're shortsighted, he argues. Or perhaps just selfish."

Or perhaps just ignorant and/or stupid.

Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gassett used the term "modern barbarians" in the 1930s to describe people who were well-educated, well-dressed, and enjoyed a good standard of living, but were dumb as a bag of rocks when it came to understanding matters related to economics and politics.

"Their response to a shortage of bread," he wrote, "is to burn down the bakery."

[Capitalism2003]

Anyone 25 and under today is absolutely screwed. They will be enslaved by debt and massive (50-80%) federal tax rates to fund the boomer social insecurity entitlements. Thanks FDR.

[hobbes1]

As Heller notes, one possible response to a future budget crisis would be for government to "abandon or suddenly scale back on" commitments to retirees. Abrupt benefit cuts would be arbitrary and unfair. But given baby boomers' role in sanctioning today's indifference and denial, they would be richly deserved.

ROTFLMAO! Just like I said. Means testing for the 50 year old 401k Crowd. Buh Bye.

[hobbes1]

No, he leaves out the growing push to privatize Socialist Insecurity, couple that with effective means testing, and it takes care of itself.

[FlatLandBeer]

Don't forget that all 401K and IRA money will start being pulled out of those accounts about the same time. This money that has been tax defered for the last 20-30 years will be taxed aa regular income. The estimated tax revenue is equal to the the shortfall. If the equity markets also continue to grow at the rates thay have in the past few years that money should be even greater.

[blam]

I've had two brothers die at the age of 51...They'll never make a claim on the SS system. (But, I expect 'X' number of deaths are already 'programmed' into the numbers.)

[Richard Kimball]

We can watch California for a preview of how we'll handle the situation. I told my wife a few years ago that I wondered what would happen in California when people kept voting themselves $2 out of a piggy bank that only had $1 in it.

[zeugma]

One of the things that I find really funny about this article, is that if someone in authority actually proposes doing something that will fix the problem, the washington post, being the evil liberal scum suckers they are will demonize that person as someone who wants to 'rob grandma and throw her out on the street'.

I must say, the next decade or so are going to be extremely interesting. The official retirement age should be about 80-90 right now based on demographics. There is no way the boomers are going to be supported by the non-boomer generations. Personally, I think things are going to get really nasty. It couldn't happen to a nicer crowd.

[hispanarepublicana]

I'm just waiting for the ones that have been occupying all the good jobs in my field to retire. There are plenty of "Reagan-in-our-formative-years" folks like me who were coming out of college in the late 80's and learned our work ethic and values during the Reagan era. But, there have been so many of the Boomers to replace other Boomers, it's been difficult for younger folks to get a foot in the door past mid-management. When all the Boomers retire, I don't think there will be a sufficient number of truly qualified younger folks to take their places. For those of us who are experienced, skilled, and were possibly trained by the boomers, it might be a job-seeker's market.

[MissAmericanPie]

You consider this a bad deal? Wait until your mexican brothers can work here a total of eighteen months and qualify for SS. Wait until those who have paid no taxes begin drawing welfare from the US SS system using fraudulant Mexican documentation.

The young can't pay for it anyway, their jobs are being outsourced and everyone knows that mexicans already do the jobs that Americans won't do. So that all means that between outsourcing and mexican competition for jobs young Americans wages will afford them housing in their automobiles.

Yeah, always blame the parents, how lame. When the parents already know their kids are going to be forced by economics to live at home until their in the kid is in his eighties.

[qam1]

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1982) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details.  

[Straight Vermonter]

"The republic will survive until the Congress discovers it can bribe the people with the people's own money." - Alexis de Tocqueville

[ETERNAL WARMING]

And massive illegal..soon to be illegal Mexican invaders are going to take care of the problem? Don't make me laugh! Less than 6% of them pay any taxes at all, yet they cost us TAXPAYERS billions per year!