Posted on 01/06/2012 6:38:10 PM PST by DJ MacWoW
KEENE, N.H. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum called Friday for immediate cuts to Social Security benefits, risking the wrath of older voters and countless others who balk at changes to the entitlement program.
"We can't wait 10 years," even though "everybody wants to," Santorum told a crowd while campaigning in New Hampshire and looking to set himself apart from his Republican rivals four days before the New Hampshire primary.
Most of his opponents have advocated phasing in a reduction and say immediate cuts would be too big a shock to current and soon-to-be retirees.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
Necessity is the mother of invention, people have a remarkable ability to adapt to changing conditions when they have to.
It’s like the guy who’s been on unemployment for months, who miraculously manages to find a job, right before the benefits run out.
Unless they have Alzheimer's or some debilitating medical condition. Not that many seniors have those.
So, you have a solution to how seniors with no family will make it if their SS is cut below subsistence levels? Great! Let’s hear it.
Move in together and pool their resources. The constitution did not guarantee every elderly person their own home, car, cable tv, telephone, electricity, internet, water, and sewage. Why should the government tax people, take their cut, and provide these things to somebody else?
I had roommates in college and after college and it worked just fine. How much room does a person really need? Why do you assume this won’t work for elderly folks?
A life lived that is so empty that a person could not find a friend or other soul in a similar situation to move in with and split the bills is a sad statement about the misplaced priorities of our culture.
Are you sure what Santorum is proposing would punish those with such extenuating circumstances as Alzheimer’s?
I will grant you perhaps what Santorum proposed needs a bit of tweaking, no battle plan survives the first shot, but it is a problem that we can’t just wish away.
We did that. Our resources are my labor and Mom's money.
Why should the government tax people, take their cut, and provide these things to somebody else?
That was the promise it made ie SS.
I had roommates in college and after college and it worked just fine. How much room does a person really need? Why do you assume this won’t work for elderly folks?
Elderly folks don't need much room. But, unlike college students, they can't get around very well if at all.
A life lived that is so empty that a person could not find a friend or other soul in a similar situation to move in with and split the bills is a sad statement about the misplaced priorities of our culture.
My mother had friends but they are dead. I guess their priorities were shameful.
No, I'm not sure about that but this discussion began because his remarks seemed to be aimed in just that direction. Certainly a person with Alzheimer's can depend on more than SS. There is Medicaid and Medicare. Is that what you had in mind?
Again you are assuming that Santorum’s plan would punish those in such extreme conditions. I just think too many here jumped to conclusions as to what Santorum said. But for some just mentioning changes to SS in any form will give them a bad case of the Heebie Jeebies.
Privatize the new generation, Cut spending and let those who earned SS keep it.
Just my thoughts.
We have dealt with Alzheimers in our family and it is a horrible experience but we still cared for him until he died. It was the right thing to do.
I know a very nice lady who fell on hard times that moved in with a disabled person to help care for her. It appears that both of them have benefitted from it beyond necessity.
I have elderly Aunts that live together and they have a good time. Why live alone towards the end of life?
Life is not about square footage, the year model of your car, your favorite TV series, or what you can buy at the grocery store. Life and faith is measured in the connections we make with other people. In a way, I think social security takes that away from us. Ultimately, we are all dependent on someone else. When we love or like that person it makes life all the more enjoyable. The government can’t provide that.
I am not assuming that and I don't think others did either. His comments gave that distinct impression so I and the others are discussing its potential. Political and personal.
But for some just mentioning changes to SS in any form will give them a bad case of the Heebie Jeebies.
I can't speak for "some." Many on this thread gave very reasoned expositions for their concerns. When reasonable concerns are answered with "we’ll get bombarded with sob stories," which is nothing more than reducing human lives to cold abstracts, you get intransigence. It is natural for people to pull back and put up their defenses when lives are downgraded to "stories."
“A life lived that is so empty that a person could not find a friend or other soul in a similar situation to move in with and split the bills is a sad statement about the misplaced priorities of our culture.”
My mother had friends but they are dead. I guess their priorities were shameful.
Your last statement is terribly bitter. This is what government does to people. It is best illustrated in the old Soviet Union, a dark and gray place where everyone had “a job” that provided a meager ration that you waited in line for. Welfare sustains a spiritual poverty with no encouragement or mentoring to change the condition. It discourages people from making connections with other people who love them.
Your mom can meet new people but I am glad that you are there to help care for her. Hopefully, you do it with a cheerful heart and in appreciation for what she did for you many years ago.
You sound a lot like a former President:
"The lessons of history … show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit."
That President was Franklin Delano Roosevelt
No, it certainly isn’t about those material things. Living on about $5,000 per year for total expenditures is hardly living high on the hog nor is living in a 300 sq ft apt. But my concern has never been about how well I live but about whether I can continue to live with my Mom at all.
LOL My last statement wasn't a reflection of my emotions it was a reflection of your logic.
I am hardly bitter at all. In spite of the difficulties and the sadness that go with helping my Mom deal with Alzheimer's this is one of the most touching and rewarding experiences of my life. We were always close but the bond has deepened tenfold now and I am more than a little aware of that.
No, my Mom cannot meet new people. Not in any meaningful sense. She is embarrassed at her loss of cognitive powers and doesn't even like to have other family members visit. She spends her time doing crossword puzzles and has trouble with that even though she looks at the answers in the back.
You really think that people just have unlimited resourcefulness don't you? Reality is going to hit you like a freight train some day.
Ah, yes, the one who bestowed SS on us all like an anvil chained and locked to our necks.
I got my nose rubbed into the evils of welfare for 7 years as a cop in the projects. It taught me plenty of hard lessons about life with blood, sweat, and tears. Our founders understood the dangers far beyond the fiscal issues of government banks, wealth redistribution, and control over the life of individuals.
I marvel at their brilliance and ability to predict what would happen if we allowed the government to gain too much power.
This thread on a conservative forum proves that the fundamental problems in our society and culture reach far beyond our debt and ability to continue a ponzi scheme. As horrific as our deficit is among bankers perhaps our spiritual deficit with our creator is a hundred times worse?
Another great quote -
“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
Samuel Adams
Which made him all the more evil, since he knew exactly what he was doing.
Isn't that what the discussion on this forum is? You sure have done a lot of complaining about just that.
No argument there. FDR was scum in my book.
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