Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
do you mean the people that put in 30 high stress years--- cops, social workers, teachers--you know, the ones that did all your dirty laundry, put up with all your stuff, and now that they are done, you want em dead?
you mean them??
It was so out of line I could not get past the first section. I skimmed through and realized what a hateful article it was.
The old people in America are not the problem. Many of us lived conservative lives and have money in the bank which seems to be a lot different than this present generation. If we didn't have, who would you be borrowing from to buy your groceries with a credit card. I live in a smaller house than most of you and it is paid for too.
Why do the young now begrudge the older people getting benefits for what they have been paying into for years. We are not the problem. This country's problem is the thousands of illegals that are taking jobs many of you need and the government is paying for them to have things that neither the young or old get. The pockets that are being filled are the companies that hire them for nothing. They can work for that nothing because government programs are being given them and the rich companies are controlling what congress does about it.
Tell the government to send these illegals home and the state of OUR country will improve immediately like France and England is already doing. You can't have that many freeloaders and expect to survive. I am not a freeloader when I collect very little after paying in a lot.
My sister and many others have been paying into Social Security and died shortly after she had worked and retired from two companies. I doubt that many will ever receive the amount in benefits that they have paid in over the years. Then think about those who are getting benefits and have never paid a dime into social security or taxes. Having babies should not be a career.
Your question is "Are old people bankrupting America" and the answer is, "No we are not."
The facts say otherwise. Many of today's Social Security recipients rely on it as their sole source of income in retirement.
Sure, maybe 1/3 of today's seniors saved a decent amount. But the other 2/3 didn't. Today's seniors also have retired earlier than the seniors of previous generations and are living longer. While this is not entirely their fault (corporations get rid of old people now, and they didn't do that as much in times past), it is a financial reality that all too many of today's seniors want to ignore or deny.
As far as Medicare (and our medical system in general) goes, it is a bloated and wasteful system that produces mediocre results, at best. This isn't the direct fault of seniors. But with their large numbers and political clout, they ought to be lobbying for a more efficient health care delivery system....both for themselves and future generations.
The general tone of your post is "seniors aren't the problem, blame it on the other guy". Well, this kind of either/or all-or-nothing thinking has to go.
There is no one group that is the source of all our financial problems.
Everyone has contributed to this problem and everyone needs to be part of the solution, and yes, that includes seniors.
I agree with NCN. Since the mid-80's illegals have increasingly taken precedence over our own poor and aging population with all the services that they've been "entitled" to, usurping the healthcare system as well as the penal system.
First, let me say that I am NOT in favor of illegal immigration AT ALL.
That said, there is no way in h*ll we can blame all or even most of our financial problems on illegal immigrants.
While illegal immigrants are a strain on state budgets because they consume more in local government services than they pay in taxes, they actually are a boon to programs like Social Security & Medicare because they tend to be young and working, which means more people are paying SS & Medicare taxes. (Sure, some are working under the table, but not all---perhaps not even most).
As far as them usurping the healthcare system. That is a joke. I'm not saying they don't add costs, because they do.
But the real problem with our health care system is US.
2/3 of Americans are overweight or obese. This leads to increases in:
high blood pressure
diabetes
increases heart disease
increased cancer.
90% of diabetes, 80% of heart disease, and 30% of cancer is COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE through healthier eating and exercise. But Americans want to go to the doctor and take expensive pills for the rest of their lives instead.....and then blame all the high costs on illegal immigrants.
By the way, Hispanic immigrants, despite high poverty rates, actually live LONGER than your average American. It's because they haven't yet adopted the crappy American diet.
When you get out of your "blaming the other guy so I don't have to do anything mode" perhaps you'll want to read this article:
Scientists this week are reporting a breakthrough therapy to lower the risk of developing the most common and deadly chronic diseases — diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer — by about 80 percent.
There are a lot of posts here fixing blame on one source. In this post it is the seniors and if not them then it must be the blacks and let's not forget those Hispanics, or the muslims. This is why there never be a unified America. Americans are much to eager to fix blame and chase any group the wealthy point out as the culprit. These diversionary tactics and descension are tools of the wealthy defined as corporations and big business that are used to keep their subjects infighting while the rich are free to plunder the economy.
Seniors didn't cause your electric bills to double and triple. Seniors didn't force you out of a job.
Seniors didn't cause the BCBS rate increase of 39%. In two to three years gasoline will be $10/gal. Who will you blame then?
And this is the problem...gimme gimme gimme. No concern for the future generations who will have to shoulder the cost of tens of trillions of dollars in liabilities to pay for all of this stuff. You do realize that because of the baby boomer demographic bubble my generation will have a lot of our wealth taken from us to pay for these benefits? But, our government (being the fiscally irresponsible entity that it is) will just borrow more money to pay for it all and get into even more debt (which again our children will have to deal with).
Imagine running up tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt and leaving it all to your kids and saying, "Oh well...they'll have to deal with it". That is repugnant and it is theft. That is what the baby boomers and the elderly are going to do to this nation.
.................................................. ................................................
I don't disagree with you at all. And, I am a late baby-boomer. IMO, the problem with America today is we have too many people who have an attitude that "as long as I get mine, I don't care what happens to others". This type of laisse faire or libertarian philosophy doesn't work when it comes to retirement plans, health insurance plans, or the conservation of natural resources.
I don't believe that old people are parasites. On the contrary, many of these people worked for decades contributing to social security and Medicare.
The real problems in our society are quite paradoxical. Pension plans are experiencing shortfalls because our standard of living has improved to the point where life expectancy has dramatically increased. This should be a cause for celebration for us. Of course, we need to take that into account and extend the worklife and the age at which people can collect pension benefits. I often wonder why this is so controversial. I work for myself and love my job. Do that many people out there hate what they do for a living? Is the world full of lazy people anymore? Gotta wonder.
That same increase in years of life poses challenges for our healthcare system. I think the solutions are obvious although many don't want to face them. We need to ration care. That means people in their late seventies and eighties won't be getting organ transplants. It means that expensive cancer therapies that don't add signficant periods to the lives of those sick with cancer will not be provided. Assisted suicide is going to become an acceptable option for more and more.
What I find upsetting is that instead of working towards rational solutions, too many people want to blame others or talk in doomsday language. We need to buckle down as a society, make some tough compromises, and solve these problems.
what we will probably wind up doing is capping health care yearly for all people at some point. some young people eat up as much health care as some older people. this blaming everybody is pathetic.
people should be allowed x dollars in health care and if they go over they have to find their own way to pay for it, but i certainly think that government could cut their expenses to free up more money for the care of its citizens, not to mention doing something about the outflow of capital through illegal immigration and fighting useless wars where our country's wealth is transferred overseas.
First, let me say that I am NOT in favor of illegal immigration AT ALL.
That said, there is no way in h*ll we can blame all or even most of our financial problems on illegal immigrants.
While illegal immigrants are a strain on state budgets because they consume more in local government services than they pay in taxes, they actually are a boon to programs like Social Security & Medicare because they tend to be young and working, which means more people are paying SS & Medicare taxes. (Sure, some are working under the table, but not all---perhaps not even most).
As far as them usurping the healthcare system. That is a joke. I'm not saying they don't add costs, because they do.
But the real problem with our health care system is US.
2/3 of Americans are overweight or obese. This leads to increases in:
high blood pressure
diabetes
increases heart disease
increased cancer.
90% of diabetes, 80% of heart disease, and 30% of cancer is COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE through healthier eating and exercise. But Americans want to go to the doctor and take expensive pills for the rest of their lives instead.....and then blame all the high costs on illegal immigrants.
By the way, Hispanic immigrants, despite high poverty rates, actually live LONGER than your average American. It's because they haven't yet adopted the crappy American diet.
When you get out of your "blaming the other guy so I don't have to do anything mode" perhaps you'll want to read this article:
Scientists this week are reporting a breakthrough therapy to lower the risk of developing the most common and deadly chronic diseases — diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer — by about 80 percent.
By the way, Hispanic immigrants, despite high poverty rates, actually live LONGER than your average American. It's because they haven't yet adopted the crappy American diet.
ARE YOU SERIOUS??? Mexico has a very high concentration of obesity, and are right behind Americans for diabetes. And I decided to look up Life Expectancy online, and so far the sites I've seen list the US with higher longevity than Mexico.
I wouldn't argue that parts of their diet are definitely healthy, especially where there's access to seafood. But considering that their cuisine ~ the GOOD-tasting stuff ~ still consists of a lot of flour and lard. . . . . . .
Last edited by Bluesmama; 02-25-2010 at 04:39 PM..
I dissagree. They are an easy target but the fact is most of them paid into our socialist security etc for many years. If, and thats apparently an impossible if, the govt that took their money had acted responsibly with it this wouldn't be an issue. Politics is the issue & politicians are bankrupting America not the taxpayers of any age group.
First, let me say that I am NOT in favor of illegal immigration AT ALL.
That said, there is no way in h*ll we can blame all or even most of our financial problems on illegal immigrants.
While illegal immigrants are a strain on state budgets because they consume more in local government services than they pay in taxes, they actually are a boon to programs like Social Security & Medicare because they tend to be young and working, which means more people are paying SS & Medicare taxes. (Sure, some are working under the table, but not all---perhaps not even most).
As far as them usurping the healthcare system. That is a joke. I'm not saying they don't add costs, because they do.
But the real problem with our health care system is US.
2/3 of Americans are overweight or obese. This leads to increases in:
high blood pressure
diabetes
increases heart disease
increased cancer.
90% of diabetes, 80% of heart disease, and 30% of cancer is COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE through healthier eating and exercise. But Americans want to go to the doctor and take expensive pills for the rest of their lives instead.....and then blame all the high costs on illegal immigrants.
By the way, Hispanic immigrants, despite high poverty rates, actually live LONGER than your average American. It's because they haven't yet adopted the crappy American diet.
When you get out of your "blaming the other guy so I don't have to do anything mode" perhaps you'll want to read this article:
Scientists this week are reporting a breakthrough therapy to lower the risk of developing the most common and deadly chronic diseases — diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer — by about 80 percent.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
