Washington (CNN) -- 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?
The answer is not so simple.
Baby boomers grew up during relative prosperity, from the economic boom of the post-World War II '50s to the "Me" generation of the '60s through the lucrative uptick in the Reagan '80s. And then there were the budget surpluses they enjoyed during the Clinton '90s.
As a result, many were able to buy second homes, take out loans at low interest rates, buy cheap gas and pump money back into the economy.
Life was good, many say, until September 2008.
In the last days of the Bush administration, the economy went belly-up, forcing Washington to bail out Wall Street in order to prevent another Great Depression.
12 comments:
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. As a babyboomer, this statement is true, but please explain where we decided to allow welfare to become a way of life, immigrants who haven't ut into the system to receive FREE healthcare, SS and free housing? Socialism was not the moto of the 50's, 60's or even the 70's, it was work hard and put your time in and then retire and enjoy life, it seem some don't play by the same rules. I don't really think babyboomers are the blame, I think it's the democratic liberals who want to give everything to people who don't want to work.
Yes the boomers are the most worthless generation.
What age were those that voted in all these entitlements? Babyboomer age. The only thing the babyboomers will leave to their children and grandchildren is a pile of debt. Just like the 700 billion dollar stimulus package. The people paying for it, won't even have gotten to see anything it was used for. What a worthless bunc of crooks. "too big to fail". yeah.......right.
Blame it on the old , blame on the young , blame on the welfare , blame on the mexicans , blame it on the blacks , blame it on the muslims , but if you waht the answer ,"Blame it on the politicians" They made the laws and the rules.
If you take our social security away , we will , and I repeat , declare war on this country.
we worked for many years and consistanly contributed to Soc.Sec. we were promised at a young age (18) for me, that all this money was safe and earning money each year so it would be there when we retired.
are we to blame? NOT HARDLY. the politicians lied and continually spent our contributions for their socialist pet projects. they bought votes with our money. they GAVE it to illegal's (people who are here against the law); that's just in case you don't know what that is. they sent it to foreign lands and many times to our enimies. more wasted dollars. they refused to COMBAT waste fraud and abuse as they promised every election year. they continued to place uneeded and burdensome regulations on all of us and opened useless agencies doing useless paperwork and creating useless headaches for all. they added to the bloated government and government payroll each year.
is this our fault? NO and again i say NO.
to you young people out there; hurry up and get the picture. we could use your help to get our country back and try to save it for your generation. stop believing the liberal idiots who are mostly to blame for this mess. yes; republicans have had a hand and made mistakes but they are being challenged and reigned back in where they belong. i think most have "seen the light".
all of us must do our part and get this administration out in 2012.
a word of warning...watch for rampant voter fraud everywhere because this is all they have left.
10:08 - You hit the nail on the head.
Baby boomers? No!
Big dumbocrat social programs are to blame.
Social Security would be fine if the dumbocrats hadn't robbed from it to fund all the other B.S.
2:06 -- no one promised you that Social Security "money was safe and earning money each year so it would be there when we retired." That's not how Social Security works and it's never how it worked. You paid Social Security taxes to pay for those who were on SS at the time. Now those of working and paying SS taxes are paying for you. It's not an investment program; it's a welfare program for old people.
Most Social Security and Medicare recipients receive farm more from these programs than they ever paid in. Stop trying to claim that you are entitled to these programs because you paid taxes when you worked. No one is entitled to any government program.
Go ahead and blame welfare for illegal immigrants (who aren't eligible for welfare, by the way) and foreign aid (a miniscule amount in the federal budget) if you want. The fact is, it's welfare programs for the elderly (Social Security and Medicare) that are causing this nation's fiscal problems. Until these programs are reformed our nation will be in horrible fiscal shape.
Social Security is not a welfare program. It was supposed to be a self sufficient program that the government forced us to pay into with the promise that it would be available upon reaching retirement age. All was well and good until the democrats, under the leadership of Lyndon Johnson decided to raid the fund and spend the reserved money. So there you have it, liberal government as usual.
Sorry, 4:54, but you don't know much about Social Security. When it was designed in the Roosevelt Administration it had the same basic design it has today. It is "self sufficient" only in if there are enough current workers to pay the benefits of retirees. During the first few decades of the program, when retirees' life spans weren't as long and people were having more kids, then it worked fine. Now, with retirees living longer and people having fewer kids, it's showing its inherent flaws.
Guess what one of the ways to fix the program would be? Let more immigrants in. If we aren't going to be giving birth to more workers, then we have to get them from other countries. More immigrants means more people paying Social Security taxes. Of course, I'm sure the old people who try to say Social Security isn't welfare also hate foreigners, so this idea would make their heads explode.
Social Security is the same as any other welfare program. Those who work pay for those who don't. Just because you paid Social Security taxes in the past doesn't mean you pre-paid for your benefits. You paid taxes for the benefit of retirees at the time. Now current workers are paying for your benefits.
All I know is we are all paying into something that may not be around for many of you to see because of miss managment!
If the government didn't FORCE you to pay and then STOLE the money, I wouldn't have a problem with people complaining about the benefits. Keep in mind that the SSI fund, despite the largess dumped upon huge numbers of people who have NEVER paid a dime into the fund, STILL takes in more money than is paid out. But, Ponzi scheme is STILL a Ponzi scheme, even if it's the government playing it on us. Like illegal gambling and the lottery and slots, it's somehow OK if the government is the criminal. As far as a "welfare program for old people", I don't think the Rockefellers and Duponts of the world would like you calling them "welfare recipients" as they get their SSI check direct deposited in their million dollar bank accounts.
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