mickeyd
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I still do not put myself in the catagory of "elderly" but I bet that many (most) others do. I guess that I'm on the entitlements bandwagon as I receive SS payments, medicare, pensions, don't work a lick...maybe I am part of that elderly group after all. Damnit!
Retiree Entitlements
“Domestic discretionary spending,” he added, “a category that includes food inspectors, the FBI, the National Weather Service and many others—faces a similar fate. By 2023, this spending will drop 33% as a share of national income, estimates the Congressional Budget Office. Dozens of programs will be squeezed.”
And whether or not politicians deal with it is of little matter; decisions will be made.
“Choices are being made by default. Almost everything is being subordinated to protect retirees. Solicitude for government’s largest constituency undermines the rest of government.”
This is an “immensely important story,” he noted, and one almost totally ignored by the media.
“One reason is that it’s happening spontaneously and invisibly: Growing numbers of elderly are simply collecting existing benefits. The media do not excel at covering inertia.”
Turning his sights to the aforementioned politicians, Samuelson writes that liberals “drive this process by treating Social Security and Medicare as sacrosanct.”
“Do not touch a penny of benefits; these programs are by definition progressive; all recipients are deserving and needy. Only a few brave liberals complain that this dogma threatens programs for the non-aged poor. “
Retiree Entitlements