Posted on 07/30/2011 10:32:57 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
Baby boomers -- those born between 1946 and 1964 -- have been described as "the pig in the python" and the "sandwich generation."
They lived well, grew up in relative abundance and, some say, expected their Social Security, health care and government support to be there as they grew old.
Now, as the future of the country's economy is up in the air, is this group of 80 million aging Americans -- many of whom are sprinting toward retirement age -- the ones to blame for the nation's shaky economic system?
(snip)
Thomas Firey, a senior editor at the conservative Cato Institute and member of generation X, said it's unclear as to what's going to happen to Social Security.
"Under current law, what's supposed to happen is once the trust fund runs dry, the benefits are to be cut by roughly 25% to bring it back into balance. Each year's income will equalize the outflow," said Frey..."But no one expects that to happen. (So) are we going to raise taxes on current workers? Are we going to get rid of the tax?"
But criticizing baby boomers is not necessarily a politically wise thing to do, especially when it comes to their voting behavior.
(snip)
Jerry Shereshewsky, the self-described "chief grown-up" at the firm GrownUpMarketing, is a baby boomer. The 65-year-old said it's not his generation group to blame, it's Congress'.
"It was not a secret that this largest cohort in American history was going to get older every year," he said. "The fact that Congress has not done a very good job of keeping up with what is really happening in the world: life expectancy, better medical care. You give people a lot of cake and ice cream, they're going to eat it."
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.cnn.com ...
Since the oldest boomers would have only been 27 the answer is ‘most of them.’ Then add in the fact that younger eligible voters are the least likely to vote. Then account for the fact that even fewer could have voted in the previous presidential election of 1972. No election at all in ‘73. So the boomer influence on politics in 1973 was close to complete insignificance.
No we didn’t.
For decades I read numerous newspapers on a daily basis, watched the evening and late news religiously and basically dripped with information.
But I never grasped the basic picture until I started listening to Rush. Remember we were raised with Walter Cronkite “You Were There” and trusted him implicitly. MG the man reported on the death of Socrates.
Personally, I got caught up in major political events and found the reporting to be utterly false. This made me extremely skeptical of the media, a skepticism which has grown to a pathological hatred.
The thing which bothers me about the Tea Party is its undefined and seemingly unstructured organization. This appears to make it vulnerable to the type of fraudulent crap as happening in the recent Special Election in NY.
When the US Government fails. When civilization fails. When the Dark Ages descend upon us, will it matter who voted for who? WE have to fix this soon, either by peaceful means or not.
Should we tell him that the voting age was 21 until the 1972 Presidential elections where Nixon won?
Probably the majority of us since 1960 and 1961 had the most births of all years of the baby boom.I was born in ‘60 and would’ve been 13 Sept before election day 1973.
I think a lot of people fail to realize the information drought we were subjected to prior to the advent of “alternative media” making it’s debut. And thank goodness it did. Even if you dripped with info, like you said, it was still very limited. Just think, if it weren’t for the blogoshpere, Dan Rather would have had a scoop on W that would have gone unchallenged. It’s hard for a lot of younger people to phantom.
I know one of the keys to a free society is an unlimited free press. It is supposed to keep things in line. But not today, and maybe never has. They are, and perhaps have always been, the hand maidens of the elite. But today people question them. I hold them in very high disdain, along with academia.Both groups seek to infiltrate the mind instead of teaching and informing.
I think the Tea Party will find a more cohesive personality. Keep in mind, it is new. And I don’t care what anybody says...it is a spontaneous grass roots effort by people that do not normally have the time to “protest”. There will be missteps along the way. But I really think the Tea Party will be a force in future politics.
I’m going to show my ignorance and ask which special New York election you are referring to? The one to replace Hillary or the DeeDee WhatEverHerNameis election?
I kind of like your answer (and tag line). Short and to the point.
See #189. And yes, I'm a Boomer, voting historically for Republicans, ignorant in my day that I was voting for the 'lesser of two evils.'
I don’t trust that chart.
I forgot all about that. That reduces boomer influence even more. Even in 1980, when Reagan was elected, the oldest boomers were 34. Not exactly the demographic that was worried about protecting SS.
Thanks.
As for the tagline, it’s the title of a cookbook. I didn’t write it, and I don’t own a copy, but I liked the attitude.
Remember the Republican who resigned after it was revealed that he sent a picture of him shirtless to some babe? Like a Weiner but with no weiner. They had a special election to replace him and a pseudo-Tea Party candidate was propped up by the RATs who skimmed enough votes, from absolute idiots apparently, to defeat the Republican. This was in a typically Republican district.
As for the press, it has always been made up of liars and con artists but the thing about today is that it pretends to be objective and even-handed. In the past the newspapers did not deny they were supporting one or the other parties. Thus, you took their statements with a grain of salt knowing their biases.
Baby boomers starting pooping out in 1946 (post-WWII baby boom); they weren’t kids.
Thanks for the info. I remember the shirt incident, but didn’t know the circumstances surrounding the election.
I’d think the majority were born shortly after WWII; they had enough influence to end the Vietnam War in 1973 (or were those WWII vets protesting against that?).
You have yet to explain your stupid theory that kids controlled the United States Supreme Court in 1973, and the Governor’s offices and state legislatures in the 1960s.
Can you try to make some sense for us please, make some effort to say something that isn’t idiotic?
You don't seem to know anything about anything, again, you think the kids ran the government and told the Supreme Court, Congress and the President what to do.
Do you really think the kids from 26 years old down to 8 years old have ever been running the United States Government, controlling the nation, setting foreign policy, making Supreme Court decisions, are the children running our current military operations, this debt decision?
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