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Debt Commissioners: Baby Boomers Will Crush Social Security, Medicare
Fox News ^ | Nov. 14, 2010 | Staff

Posted on 11/14/2010 1:07:03 PM PST by La Enchiladita

Baby boomers withdrawing funds from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are going to "crush the system" in a matter of years, a member of President Obama's blue-ribbon commission on the debt warned Sunday.

David Cote, CEO of Honeywell and one of a handful of private-sector chiefs appointed to the 18-member fiscal reform commission issuing its final recommendations on Dec. 1, said he didn't realize -- even perched at the top of his field -- that the next decade will be disastrous to the nation's accounts ledger unless something drastic is done.

"It scares me that as a financially conversant CEO, I didn't know how bad this was going to get in the next 10 years," Cote said on ABC's "This Week." "The thing that everybody misses is it's my generation, the baby boomers, who are going to flow through Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. It's going to crush the system."

"Social Security is going to go cash negative in five years. It's going to go broke in 2037," added Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., another member of the commission who appeared with Cote.

Medicare is "prepared to go permanently cash negative in just 10 years. So, obviously, those things have to be reformed; there have to be some changes," Conrad said.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: babyboomers; debtcommission; entitlements; federalspending; seniors
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I really hate politicians today, the way they play with people's lives, with our money. As a new retiree who is being denied the COL increase in SS for the second year, I'm about to freak out.

My opinion, though, is that the deepest cuts should be made in Medicare and not in monthly benefits. I have never believed government is responsible for my health and Medicare is way too costly. That includes the ill-begotten prescription drug thingie.

1 posted on 11/14/2010 1:07:05 PM PST by La Enchiladita
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To: La Enchiladita

My husband and I have put a lot of our money into the social security system over our lifetime. If we had been able to invest that same money as we saw fit....we’d be much better off today.


2 posted on 11/14/2010 1:10:43 PM PST by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo...Sum Pro Vita. (Modified Decartes))
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To: AdmSmith; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; bigheadfred; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; Delacon; ...
Thanks La Enchiladita.
David Cote, CEO of Honeywell and one of a handful of private-sector chiefs appointed to the 18-member fiscal reform commission issuing its final recommendations on Dec. 1, said he didn't realize -- even perched at the top of his field -- that the next decade will be disastrous to the nation's accounts ledger unless something drastic is done.

3 posted on 11/14/2010 1:12:20 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: La Enchiladita

What needs to be done, and what I rarely hear discussed, is to eleiminate all of the “entitlements” which were never meant to be funded by SS. And, if somebody wants to offer to give me all the money I’ve contributed to SS and all the money my employers have contributed (ultimately it came out of my pocket), I’ll gladly take it and opt out of the system. After all, I wouldn’t want to be a burden to anyone....


4 posted on 11/14/2010 1:12:29 PM PST by clintonh8r ("Let them eat lobster cake." Michele Antoinette, vacation #6.)
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To: La Enchiladita

Enjoy my 30 years of contributions you old farts.


5 posted on 11/14/2010 1:13:04 PM PST by Normal4me
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To: La Enchiladita

This has been common knowledge for as long as I can remember - and I’m 41!


6 posted on 11/14/2010 1:14:11 PM PST by Personal Responsibility (Defund 2010. Repeal 2012.)
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To: La Enchiladita
Baby Boomers Will Crush Social Security

We should just give the billions they confiscated from us, over the past 50 years, back to the government....Just tell them to keep what they took...

(((wow))

7 posted on 11/14/2010 1:14:11 PM PST by dragnet2
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To: SunkenCiv
The old fools on that ‘commission’ need to come clean with the truth that dumping all revenues into the general fund and writing IOUs for massive extra programs to keep democrats and pubbies in power by creating more government dependents is what really crushed SS and medicare. But don't expect the fools to even admit it much less explain it.
8 posted on 11/14/2010 1:15:26 PM PST by MHGinTN (Some, believing they can't be deceived, it's nigh impossible to convince them when they're deceived.)
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To: La Enchiladita

There are more than 50,000 people a day signing up for SS. It doesn’t take a computer scientist to understand the problem with that.


9 posted on 11/14/2010 1:15:31 PM PST by ComputerGuy (HM2/USN M/3/3 Marines RVN 66-67)
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To: SumProVita

AND IT’S GONE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy_j_vbLmNQ


10 posted on 11/14/2010 1:15:40 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
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To: SumProVita

But your money has gone to make other peoples lives better via big government handouts and payoffs to favored constituencies. Just like all good liberal programs.

Doesn’t that make you feel better?


11 posted on 11/14/2010 1:16:58 PM PST by Personal Responsibility (Defund 2010. Repeal 2012.)
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To: SumProVita
My husband and I have put a lot of our money into the social security system over our lifetime. If we had been able to invest that same money as we saw fit....we’d be much better off today.

Ditto that...

Not investment advice but a potential replacement vehicle to replace at least half of the Gov't run system is already in place and under the Demublicans in DC...That Solution?

The Roth IRA...

The Maxium Roth contribution is not far away from the SSI Contribution Caps (Unless Obummer removes them).

Split the difference or go for the higher amount and let individuals stick 1/2 their SSI contribution ( Theirs, not the employers) in a Roth.

Man what a game-changer that would be....

We can discuss the investment vehicles within it later...

12 posted on 11/14/2010 1:17:38 PM PST by taildragger ((Palin / Mulally 2012 ))
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Comment #13 Removed by Moderator

To: ComputerGuy

It wouldn’t be a problem if there were 200- 400,000 new people a day contributing.


14 posted on 11/14/2010 1:18:58 PM PST by Personal Responsibility (Defund 2010. Repeal 2012.)
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To: La Enchiladita
Social Security is going to go cash negative in five years.

So only five more years of stealing the Social Security surplus and spending it.

15 posted on 11/14/2010 1:19:08 PM PST by Doe Eyes
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To: clintonh8r; SumProVita
And, if somebody wants to offer to give me all the money I’ve contributed to SS and all the money my employers have contributed (ultimately it came out of my pocket), I’ll gladly take it and opt out of the system.

We agree.

16 posted on 11/14/2010 1:20:11 PM PST by La Enchiladita (It's Morning in America!! And darkest night in California....:(:()
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To: Personal Responsibility

It doesn’t make us feel better at all....precisely because, in the long run, it has done more harm than good.

Hubby says that he would have felt MUCH better helping others to invest and grow their earnings too....if we had been ALLOWED to do so. Unfortunately, it was not an option.


17 posted on 11/14/2010 1:22:10 PM PST by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo...Sum Pro Vita. (Modified Decartes))
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To: La Enchiladita

Economic realists and conservatives have been saying this for decades.

It seems ok for the dems to finally come out and admit it, but when Republicans say it it’s bash-fest time.


18 posted on 11/14/2010 1:22:41 PM PST by Tolsti2
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To: La Enchiladita
What a league of putz's.

They have been knowing for years, and years, and years, that the baby boomer crowd would be retiring, they even knew when.

Now they want to feign shock and surprise that this is starting now. What a bunch of flakes.

I sure hope they don't plan their personal finances in this lackadaisical, slipshod manner. "Oh my God, look honey, it's a bill for a mortgage payment, what do we do, what do we do?"

Maybe if we'd curb earmarks, stimuli, bailouts, government salaries, welfare fraud, and some of the other wastes in government we could afford to PAY THESE PEOPLE WHO PAID INTO THE FRIGGIN' SYSTEM ALL THEIR FRIGGIN' LIVES!

obama's "debt commissioners" are going to try and take away SS in order to pass handouts to lazy rabble who never paid a cent into it.

Talk about a march on Washington....
19 posted on 11/14/2010 1:23:44 PM PST by FrankR (Don't let the bastards wear you down!)
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To: La Enchiladita

Tough we paid into it where is the MONEY?


20 posted on 11/14/2010 1:24:27 PM PST by Cheetahcat (Zero the Wright kind of Racist! We are in a state of War with Democrats)
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