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ARE THESE D.C. CLOWNS GOING TO SERVE US?
By Paul Campbell
Chillicothe Gazette, OH
Oct 16 2007
Tis the season for gremlins, ghosts, skeletons, trick or treating,
haunted houses, ghoulish masks, jack-o-lanterns and scary revelers
yelling "Boo" at every door. All these Halloween trappings are designed
to scare us. And, sometime they do.
If you really want to have the bejabbers scared out of you, you might
want to check out the article in the Gazette recently entitled, Social
Security hits wave of Boomers. This piece will cause you borderline
panic, especially if you are on Social Security and are a Medicare
beneficiary. Folks, if something isn't done ... and soon ...
the future doesn't look good at all, and even though both of these
programs may not go broke and run into bankruptcy in our lifetimes,
the baby boomers, born in the mid 1940's who are turning retirement
age will certainly find the Mother Hubbard's pantry will be bare. In
2019 Medicare's hospital fund will be broke; and, by 2041 the Social
Security Trust fund will be bankrupt. Not a pretty thought.
If you read my occasional opinions the Gazette is nice enough to
publish, you already know that I am not what one would call a big fan
of our federal government. The federal government's administration
of Social Security and Medicare are, perhaps, the two most classic
examples of Congress' total mismanagement and bastardization of
federal programs.
Let's see, Social Security was introduced back about 1936. Medicare was
put into effect about 1966. That means Social Security has been around
for 71 years; Medicare for 41 years. Wouldn't you think that would be
enough time for those ninnies in Washington to begin to understand,
from time to time, these two programs would need some tweaking? That
occasionally they should take a look at how these programs were
operating and, where necessary, make appropriate adjustments to
insure that they would continue in perpetuity? Not only did these
incompetent politicians not insure the proper administration of these
two significant programs, they crippled them by indiscriminately
borrowing ... and borrowing ... and borrowing from these funds with
no thought, plan or arrangement whereby that borrowed money would be
put back into the funds.
In more recent years our federal government do nothings have done
just that: Nothing. Typical of D.C. politicians, they are paralyzed
into inaction because the problems with Social Security and Medicare
have grown to magnitudes that our political leaders find themselves
unable to even address the mounting problems in these programs, much
less come up with some amicable, workable solution. Wanna bet that,
if it was their retirement program and their health plan that was in
jeopardy, the fix would have been in a long, long time ago.
The vastness of the problem is reflected in the work of economists,
actuaries and other experts who estimate $50 trillion in future
financial obligations over the next 75 years. Hey, you guys and gals
in Congress, do you think a $50 trillion project is big enough to get
your attention so that you can at last pay some heed to the problem
and maybe even take a stab or two at solving it?
Instead of addressing serious, critical, meaningful issues in
Washington, what are these do-nothings worried about lately? Would
you believe they are all embroiled in a huge bro-ha-ha about some
dunderhead congressman proposing that Congress officially recognize
some massacre of Armenians by the Turkish Ottoman Empire as a genocide
- and get this - the Ottoman Empire ruled that area of the world for
about 600 years from 1299 until the early 1900s. Thats even before
Social Security and Medicare.
I would be willing to kick in my fair share to send all these
politicians to a course on how to prioritize work in the order of
importance. Maybe, then, we could get these clowns to do something
right for a change, if they ever are going to do anything at all.
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/pbcs. dll/article?AID=/20071016/OPINION/710160323/1014
By Paul Campbell
Chillicothe Gazette, OH
Oct 16 2007
Tis the season for gremlins, ghosts, skeletons, trick or treating,
haunted houses, ghoulish masks, jack-o-lanterns and scary revelers
yelling "Boo" at every door. All these Halloween trappings are designed
to scare us. And, sometime they do.
If you really want to have the bejabbers scared out of you, you might
want to check out the article in the Gazette recently entitled, Social
Security hits wave of Boomers. This piece will cause you borderline
panic, especially if you are on Social Security and are a Medicare
beneficiary. Folks, if something isn't done ... and soon ...
the future doesn't look good at all, and even though both of these
programs may not go broke and run into bankruptcy in our lifetimes,
the baby boomers, born in the mid 1940's who are turning retirement
age will certainly find the Mother Hubbard's pantry will be bare. In
2019 Medicare's hospital fund will be broke; and, by 2041 the Social
Security Trust fund will be bankrupt. Not a pretty thought.
If you read my occasional opinions the Gazette is nice enough to
publish, you already know that I am not what one would call a big fan
of our federal government. The federal government's administration
of Social Security and Medicare are, perhaps, the two most classic
examples of Congress' total mismanagement and bastardization of
federal programs.
Let's see, Social Security was introduced back about 1936. Medicare was
put into effect about 1966. That means Social Security has been around
for 71 years; Medicare for 41 years. Wouldn't you think that would be
enough time for those ninnies in Washington to begin to understand,
from time to time, these two programs would need some tweaking? That
occasionally they should take a look at how these programs were
operating and, where necessary, make appropriate adjustments to
insure that they would continue in perpetuity? Not only did these
incompetent politicians not insure the proper administration of these
two significant programs, they crippled them by indiscriminately
borrowing ... and borrowing ... and borrowing from these funds with
no thought, plan or arrangement whereby that borrowed money would be
put back into the funds.
In more recent years our federal government do nothings have done
just that: Nothing. Typical of D.C. politicians, they are paralyzed
into inaction because the problems with Social Security and Medicare
have grown to magnitudes that our political leaders find themselves
unable to even address the mounting problems in these programs, much
less come up with some amicable, workable solution. Wanna bet that,
if it was their retirement program and their health plan that was in
jeopardy, the fix would have been in a long, long time ago.
The vastness of the problem is reflected in the work of economists,
actuaries and other experts who estimate $50 trillion in future
financial obligations over the next 75 years. Hey, you guys and gals
in Congress, do you think a $50 trillion project is big enough to get
your attention so that you can at last pay some heed to the problem
and maybe even take a stab or two at solving it?
Instead of addressing serious, critical, meaningful issues in
Washington, what are these do-nothings worried about lately? Would
you believe they are all embroiled in a huge bro-ha-ha about some
dunderhead congressman proposing that Congress officially recognize
some massacre of Armenians by the Turkish Ottoman Empire as a genocide
- and get this - the Ottoman Empire ruled that area of the world for
about 600 years from 1299 until the early 1900s. Thats even before
Social Security and Medicare.
I would be willing to kick in my fair share to send all these
politicians to a course on how to prioritize work in the order of
importance. Maybe, then, we could get these clowns to do something
right for a change, if they ever are going to do anything at all.
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/pbcs. dll/article?AID=/20071016/OPINION/710160323/1014