Entitlement Reform is Easier than You Think

Bad news on the entitlement front:  Social Security and Medicare will be gone earlier than anticipated.

Remember how I posted that Social Security would not be able to pay out full benefits after 2037?  Well, that has been changed to 2036.  And Medicare?  That's not going to be able to pay out full benefits after 2024! (See: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/13/news/economy/social_security_medicare_trustees_report/index.htm?hpt=T2#disqus_thread).

It's a good thing that report came out today as I was planning on discussing this subject anyway.  See, I was having a discussion with my cousin the other day about whether or not Baby Boomers and the elderly deserve their Medicare and Social Security benefits.  She thinks that because they worked hard their whole lives and paid into those government programs they are entitled to every penny.

I, on the other hand, disagreed strongly (as you can probably tell given my numerous previous posts on entitlement spending).  The problem I have with current and near-future retirees collecting full benefits is the fact that we young people will also pay into the systems our whole lives, but we will (at best) get about 75% of our legally allowed benefits when we retire.  That is truly unfair and I have no intention of living in a country with older generations who think it's totally fine to rob young people like this; it's too disgusting, irresponsible and uncivilized for America.

Adding to my fury is the fact that our country's poor fiscal, political, and social health can be attributed to the fact that Boomers and their predecessors haven't been paying attention over the decades.  This entitlement problem has been building for 30 years (at least) and no one paid attention until now.  The older adults make excuses like "oh government does whatever it wants" and "it doesn't affect me" and such.  These are unbelievably lazy and self-absolving excuses: they are pretty much the opposite of what American adults should be doing in terms of taking responsibility for their failures.

Old people like to accuse us teenagers and young adults of shirking personal responsibility.  Well, older people, I have news for you: you have been totally irresponsible in your duties as American citizens.  You have failed your country because you did not do what citizens in a democratic republic must do in order for their country to maintain economic and political excellence: you failed to keep your officials' spending and lobbyists' bribes in check.  If you don't like this opinion, too bad: it's truth.

Now that my rant is out of the way, it is time to come up with a solution to our entitlement problem.  And, yes, it will involve cutting some benefits for current and soon-to-be retirees: I am sorry to say it, but, you have partially caused this problem and you will be part of the solution.  There is no reason why we young people should only get 70% of the amount we paid in to entitlements while those who failed us get 100%; that is too unjust and I will not stand for it.

Here is a simple plan that would solve Social Security's problems quickly (you should note that it affects both the taxpayer and the Social Security recipient minimally): first, we can reduce the cost of living adjustment by 1%, and, then, we can extend the Social Security tax to all wages above the current cap of $106,800 (this last trick should take care of the funding by itself, but, I would reduce the total tax rate by 2% and expand the levels of income that are subject to the tax).  (See: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37195779/ns/business-personal_finance/t/can-tiny-changes-save-social-security/).

Medicare is the tricky one.  The NYT said old people should die sooner because 28% of Medicare costs occur during the last year of life (see: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/business/yourmoney/27view.html).  I doubt anyone likes the idea of dying sooner (I know I don't) so here are some other plans: raising the minimum age of entry into the program, eliminating services, and making wealthy people pay more.  Also, we could use a voucher plan that would have senior citizens buy insurance plans that suited them best (see: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3726).

If you don't like those solutions, feel free to propose some other ones.  But, know this: we don't have time for partisan crap.  We need practical ideas ASAP.

So, young people.  Pressure your grandparents and parents into supporting these relatively modest reforms: your futures are on the line (it's not your fault) and your family members need to know it.

The American Dream is Dead (For a Little While, at Least)

America was once a place where people believed that they could work hard and improve their lot in life.  Well, it appears that dream is mostly dead.  Read this article and observe the lack of optimism for America's future: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110503/ts_yblog_thelookout/optimism-about-future-for-american-youth-at-all-time-low.

Besides the fact that most people are right, what else is deeply disturbing about this article?

This paragraph: "Older Americans were much more pessimistic about the future than younger ones. Among those between the ages of 50 and 64, just 36 percent said they expected younger Americans to have a better life than their parents, and among those 65 and over, just 37 percent did. By contrast, 57 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they expected their lives to be better than their parents'. Among Americans aged 30-44, 45 percent agreed with that view--a total just about in sync with the results as a whole".

Question: Why are the Boomers much more pessimistic about our futures than we young people are?

I have a theory: it's because they know they screwed things up for young people in terms of destroying our image in the world, creating massive liabilities that we will have to pay for (e.g. Social Security and the public debt), and screwing up our education system so badly (in terms of quality and price) that we young people will not be ready to compete in tomorrow's economy.

In short, I believe the Boomers may feel a little bit bad.  But, I doubt they feel bad enough to do anything about the problems they created.  I seriously doubt they are willing to cut their retirement benefits or raise taxes on themselves. I do not believe they will help us when we finally wake up and realize our education system sucks.  Basically, I do not believe they will fix the messes they created.  

And, I believe that will impact how the Boomers will be remembered.  The generation that did a lot to push minority and womens' rights forward will not be remembered for those actions.  They will be remembered for their partisan bickering, their refusal to serve in Vietnam, and their unfettered licentiousness.  Mostly, though, the Boomers will be remembered as the generation that financially and morally bankrupted America because of their selfishness and unwillingness to make small sacrifices.

So, Boomers, do you want history to remember you as the most selfish generation the USA ever saw?  If not, you should make things right.  Fix America's debt problems, the education system you screwed up, our entitlements, and our image in the world.  If you do not fix the mistakes you made, I can promise you this: history will not remember you kindly and we young people will make sure of that.

Republicans and Democrats: Are They Really That Different?

Now that you know my feelings on the major political parties, I will explain to you precisely why both parties' avid followers are idiots.  If you are a Democrat or Republican, and you do not like being called an idiot, then you should stop being one.  Stop supporting your party (financially and electorally) because, in all probability, "your party" does not represent you.

Republicans and Democrats like to bash each other in the media using violent rhetoric to motivate supporters to action while hoping to enrage and injure the other party's members.  Today's political arena features nothing more than a glorified and expensive battle between gangs of adults who suffer from childish volatility.  Honestly, when was the last time you saw the political parties put aside differences and meet in the middle?  Does anyone besides me believe that Washington, D.C. is more like a high school inhabited by immature, uncooperative idiots than a bastion of problem-solvers and wise individuals?

On a daily basis, reports surface of individuals attacking the other party's members like young children attack each other.  "Boehner is in bed with Big Oil and the Tea Baggers" or "Obama is not an American, but he is a closeted Muslim who wants to destroy America".  How are statements like these any better than the shrill attacks and sheer gossip of high schoolers?

The lack of maturity on both sides is just one attribute Republicans and Democrats share.  Let us look at a few others.

Both parties falsely claim to be the party of the working and middle-class American.  In reality, both parties do not give two craps about the typical American; the parties just pretend to care to get your votes.  Who did Bush's War in Iraq help?  It certainly hasn't helped me (or you) although it may have helped oil companies (they have made well over $100 billion in profits since the war began).  This war is just going to cost us middle-class members in the long-run in terms of higher taxes and lasting disdain from the Arab world.

Also, who did the Bush tax cuts help?  They supposedly were for everyone.  Well, my question is how is it good to cut taxes on everyone while government spending is ballooning?  That is not good for the middle class because we now have to live life under the specter of imminent and massive tax increases.

Finally, how have those Wall Street bailouts worked for middle-class Americans?  Well, almost 10% of us are still unemployed.  It is difficult to get credit to buy houses or cars.  We can't pay off credit card and student loan debt due to the recession.  Where is our bailout? And, more importantly, why aren't you pressuring your leaders for a bailout?

On the Democrats' side, how exactly was GM's and Chrysler's second bailouts good for you?  You are probably not one of the 800,000 UAW members who benefited.  You probably are not one of the other 2.5 million people who depend on the auto sector.  Think about that: 3.3 million people (1% of the population) got about $90 billion to save their jobs.  To those of you who say "GM and Chrysler only got loans and they'll pay them back" I will say that you are an idiot and you should look at this website: http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/bailouttracker/.   

Also, how does a massive government program like Obamacare help you out when you are going to be taxed to cover the insurance premiums of 25 million people?

To my generation, why do you students so avidly support the Democrats?  Have they helped you fund school?  No.  They helped make student loans so hard to deal with for unemployed graduates.  And they haven't stopped the insane increase in tuition (I will explain how they actually created our tuition troubles in another post).

Now that we have quashed both parties' claims that they help middle-class Americans, let us look at both parties' views on the size of our government.  Republicans have no problems telling people what to do in terms of morality and safety; they have no problems increasing government spending through population control (Patriot Act), morality wars (War on Drugs), defense spending (Iraq, Afghanistan) and subsidies for constituents (oil companies, pharmaceuticals).  Expanding government influence is clearly okay with Republicans.

And the Democrats?  Well, they have no qualms about destroying your chances of thriving economically.  Think of programs like Medicaid and Social Security, which are nothing less than wealth transfers from workers to non-workers (although, as I have said before, I don't have a huge problem with these programs' goals: the programs are just too big right now).  They have no problem with levying unjust taxes (think of the taxes on gasoline which have inflated gas prices) that help crush decent, hard-working Americans like yourselves.  Democrats also don't think twice about creating new regulations (think of the EPA's decisions against off-shore oil drilling) that stunt economic freedom.  Like the Republicans, Democrats have no problems increasing their influence over your lives.

I hope that you now understand that neither party is on your side.  Democrats and Republicans seek the same goals (making their own lives better and increasing their political power) through different means.  Democrats and Republicans do not care about YOU, and YOU are an idiot for giving them your money and votes.

We should all be tired of these immature, lying, self-serving individuals who seek to make the world better for themselves and their financial backers; these are not good traits for people in leadership roles.  And, yet, we do not hold our leaders accountable.  We kind of just accept their corruption. It is a huge joke, America, and the politicians are the ones laughing.