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True, because the seniors were forced to pay into the socialized retirement and medical program.

The seniors get far more out of the programs than they contributed. The average Medicare recipient receives three times what he put into the system.

This graph shows that the average man and woman (average defined in the study as average income over their working lives and living to the average life expectancy) who start receiving benefits in 2010 get over 3 times more in benefits than they pay in to the system! Of importance, the study accounts for inflation by calculating all past taxes and future payments in 2010 dollars to provide an accurate comparison.

If the notion that Medicare recipients are simply "getting back what they paid in" is false then where is the money coming from? Simply, the excess received is being borrowed from younger generations and the cost is more than we can bear.

But I have to say, your interpretation that the children are going without because the money is instead being funneled to the elderly is quite a stretch.

The entitlement programs represent an unfunded liability of over $100 trillion. We have a $17.5 trillion national debt that continues to increase. Who is going to pick up the tab for all of this? The entitlement programs are pay as you go, i.e., today's workers pay for today's retirees. In 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree; today, there are 3; and by 2030 there will be two. Our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will be saddled with unimaginable debt that will lower their standard of living. This is the legacy of our generation and some of the ones before it.

Do you see a solution?

We must reform the entitlement programs for starters. It may mean mean testing and privatization. Unfortunately, we just passed what may be the biggest entitlement program of all--Obamacare. Or we may need a financial collapse to reverse direction.

I appreciate your graphs.

Sadly, with Medicare just like Social Security, those that pay in the most don’t get back what they paid in. Those that benefit are the slugs and the lazy people.

I see your point that we have unfunded liabilities. And that they are huge and not sustaining. But at this point I’m just so mad at the total socialization of our country that I don’t even care. I only see that the top people are being screwed over. And these are the ones that have made our country work, taken risks, supplied jobs.

And those will be the ones that they expect to pay even more taxes, and will reduce their benefits. Just like when you talk about means testing. I think that would be a despicable thing to do because you are punishing success and rewarding stupidity and sloth. And of course, what we reward we get more of.

Unfortunately, with the dumbing down of our public education system people can’t even tell when they are being screwed over. So maybe some will just let it keep happening.

Yes, of course I see that the debt is going to be on the shoulders of the next generations. But the way I took your post was that at this current moment they are defunding children’s programs and putting the money into senior’s programs. That is not the correct picture, of course.

I vote for the financial collapse you mentioned. Only because any other solution involves more socializing. Just as the means testing you talked about. We are already too deep into socialism. And that just destroys an economy. Destroys the system we had that encouraged innovation and growth to the point where our progress benefited the entire world. I don’t think we can ever get back to what we had with a Band-Aid fix.

I am pinging OneWingedShark because he has a great ping list on CWII spark potentials. And although this was already one of his threads, what we’re talking about he might be interested in. And you might be interested in joining his list, kabar. You certainly have all the information we need at your fingertips. And graphs ;)

Our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will be saddled with unimaginable debt that will lower their standard of living.

Sadly, that is the generation that seems to care the least. They've been in public school learning about condoms and bananas instead of studying REAL history and math.

Look at how those 18-25 voted. They voted for this. So you cannot blame just us older people.

Like you, I try to go around and tell people the truth. Most don't get it, and worse, don't really care. Sigh. Frustrating, isn't it?

How do people here respond to your posts? I hope at least here there is a consensus - and outrage - at what you so calmly and professionally display. Keep up the good work. And I don't mean to argue with you. I was at this point 2 decades ago and now I am beyond livid and beyond hope. So if I sound negative, I am not disagreeing with you but am looking for a way to start over, instead of fix something that they refuse to even try a tiny bit to fix. The debt has been increasing - and unfunded liabilities - for the entire time I've been watching - and few seem to care. So I don't mean to be grumpy with you, it's just the situation.