The problem with too many of our "seniors" entitlements are that they are not based on financial need - annual income.
Why in the hell should a slice of a retail clerk's pay go to help Ted Kennedy get his Viagra on the Medicare drug plan. It not only does not make financial sense, it does not make moral sense.
Medicare should be folded entirely into medicaid, which has a means test, and that means test should be strengthened. It is not a question of if, but when, the cost of Medicare causes a generational-based civil war.
Workers in 2030 are not going to shell out for the expected costs of Medicare for a generation of fat and happy retirees whose pensions and social security are more than what average workers get paid.
Our "seniors" programs are the biggest wealth transfer boondoggle ever, from those who work the hardest to those who need it the least.
I'm pretty sure most grandparents would demand that their children/grandchildren give them money for subsistence (or travel and leisure) or demand money from their from their children/grandchildren for medicine or medical treatment. However when the “government” is paying … the older generation figures they might as well get theirs, not realizing they are voting themselves money from the pockets of their children/grandchildren and saddling future generations with massive debt.
Seniors are taking out way more than they ever kicked in to social security and are living longer than was ever expected and are demanding more from the "government" and the politicians, wanting to be re-elected, are not doing what is best for the long term health of this country.
Solution:
- Raise the retirement age (beyond the insignificant adjustments that are already scheduled)
- Reduce benefits and make participants aware that Social Security was never designed to be a retirement plan … IF YOU HAVE NOT PROPERLY PLANNED FOR RETIREMENT, PERHAPS YOU MAY NOT GET TO LIVE THE WAY YOU WANT TO IN YOUR RETIREMENT. YOU MAY HAVE TO MOVE IN WITH YOUR CHILDREN OR SHARE THE COST OF A RESIDENCE WITH OTHERS AND NOT LIVE BY YOURSELF.
- Remind them that, if they do not accept the first two suggestions, then they are stealing money from their children / grandchildren and their legacy will be massive debt.
Also, I think once a person takes out more from an entitlement program than they ever contributed (in the form of payroll taxes and percent of income tax paid used to support such programs), they should have to sign away their right to vote in order to continue to receive benefits. Then the politicians wouldn’t be so beholden to the the “entitled’ (This would never happen BUT IT SHOULD).