August, 2010.". The means test for aged care does not include the full value of the family home. 1. They may be reviled for the choices they made, but they wont be the ones that have to face the music, and they wont be the working stiffs that have to pay the majority of the taxes to pay for promises made by the boomers. ! I think he is a little ticked off ! 4) The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform's proposal included no provisions for excluding the retirement and health care benefits of politicians from deficit reduction efforts. Here's a response in a letter from PATTY NYE from Illinois . Research professor of sociology Glen Holl Elder, Jr., a prominent figure in the development of life course theory, wrote Children of the Great Depression (1974), "the first longitudinal study of a Great Depression cohort." Here's a response in a letter from PATTY NYE from Illinois .. 3. It is you and they who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. We recommended that the benchmark for the aged pension be tied to average weekly earnings again with the adjustment being phased in over 15 years. "Just vicious," Simpson said. Always say what you mean ! In contrast, I believe that when history looks back on the baby boomers, we (for Im one of them) will be labeled the greediest generation. THIS SENIOR CITIZEN NAILED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Patricia Bealer says: September 16, 2018 at 11:00 pm. American boomers chose not to do that with Social Security. They faced economic hardships related to the Great Depression and Treaty of Versailles as unemployment rose to nearly 40%. (You can read all the comments here.). The Generational Dilemma of the 2020 Democratic Primary", "Full Committee Hearing on Statement Made by Gen. James A. Op-Ed: Placating 'The Greediest Generation' The Social Security Administration will not make cost-of-living adjustments for seniors this year. No matter what happens to the official interest rate business continues to sit on its cheque book. In comparison, the official debt held by the public is only $9 trillion. Until you understand what many have been through, may I suggest you stop referring to us boomers as greedy. "I think this is the greediest generation." Where to begin. Marian Salzman: For 30 years, baby boomers dominated politics, culture. Why shouldnt he try? ! The bad news is they think this can be accomplished by slashing discretionary programs. That's right, sir. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. "Hey Dick, let's get a few things . The Chinese government offered to spend $100 million on building an "ornate Chinese garden" at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., and the project "thrilled local officials," according to a CNN report. To redeem these IOUs, the government would have to: 1) raise taxes; 2) cut spending; or 3) borrow an equivalent amount of money on the open market at a time when U.S. government debt is at the highest peacetime level in history. The Social Security mess was created by the Greatest Generation and the Boomers were left holding the empty bag.. It looks like we better . The World War II generation of the Soviet Union was further decimated by the war. That's 11 times our official national debt and also greater than our total net worth, meaning that in some sense we're bankrupt. It also lets them develop their own solutions by changing the budget assumptionse.g., by cutting spending in certain areas. The veins in my temples throbbed. The majority of politicians opposed to action on climate change are baby boomers, and it will be the millennial generation who will bear the cost of this inactivity. Story Highlights. The euro area has 16.5 million unemployed and an unemployment rate of 10.5 per cent. C Brewer. As of 2003, the share of elderly below the poverty line had fallen by two-thirds to 10 percent -- representing a huge national success. Thats not likely to happen. The angry letter to Simpson surfaced on the Internet in early 2011 but in its original form was anomalously signed. And because the boomers vote, and younger generations havent yet started to band together for self-protection, its likely that the boomers will get their way which means unaffordable health care could bankrupt Canadas governments. So how large is the U.S. fiscal gap? Alan Simpson, the Senator from Wyoming, calls senior citizens the 'Greediest Generation' as he compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. This is typical of the kinds of decisions that boomers have made: spend money on what we want right now, and to hell with the consequences later. I think she is a little ticked off! But showing them exactly how much they will have to pay in taxes to support the status quo might change their attitude. 38.8% were volunteers, 61.2% were draftees, the average length of their service was 33 months, and total approximate casualties were 671,278 (killed and wounded). Call when you get honest work! In the same ad, it points out Wagner called seniors citizens the "greediest generation" in an interview with PennLive's editorial board in 2016. The Environment. No one asked me blame those corrupt politicians! Why? We boomers should be the first to use this tool. refer to American soldiers in World War II. In its latter years, this generation was introduced to continued technological advancements such as mobile phones and the Internet. If that happens, we boomers will see our retirements vaporize, together with our kids' livelihoods. In 1998, former news anchor Tom Brokaw wrote a book calledThe Greatest Generation. [8] The first half of the generation, born between 1901 and 1914, are sometimes referred to as the Interbellum Generation. That, at any rate, is what the boomers have done across most jurisdictions in North America, including Canada, for the past 30-40 years. 1:38. The over generous super provisions are another wealth transfer from the young to the old and should be tightened while not discouraging thrift and self-sufficiency (two words slipping from our lexicon). My assertion will infuriate many boomers, and I will undoubtedly get nasty messages from people who will cite all the wonderful, selfless things that they or we have done, or how we had no choice but to do what we did. So while millennials are often portrayed as the greedy ones, there is a case to say baby boomers are the greediest generation ever. 2.9 million members of this generation served in the war, and there were 384,000 casualties. The predominant emotion the holiday provokes among Russians (59% of respondents) is national pride, while 18% said "sorrow" and 21% said "both". It was a case of the many supporting the few. She wonders if after asking for a range of personal freedoms, they are now asking for the . There is no growth in real wages and inflation is at record lows. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS 2. Taxing retirement income and calling seniors the "greediest generation" is insane in a state with the fifth highest population of seniors, a group with a 70+ percent turnout rate, and who are vocal about pocketbook issues. Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of Obama's deficit. Don't expect any sympathy, Trumpy. Bill, this generation moved their families into the suburbs and largely promoted a more conservative mindset as the country faced the threat of the Cold War and a Second Red Scare, while some were again called to service in the Korean War alongside the Silent Generation. [2]http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/, A Message from the Public Trustees, fromA Summary of the 2013 Annual Reports, Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees, as read 7 July 2014. "Hey Dick, let's get a few things straight!! Because we arent saving, we arent investing. I originally wrote this in 2014, and got roundly flamed for it. Camarillo, Alberto M. (1 October 1971). We've also lost ground in child vaccinations: the United States now ranks 84th in the world for measles immunizations and 89th for polio. From TPM: 'Greediest Generation' Won't Leave Me Alone Over Debt Commission Report "I've never had any nastier mail or (been in a) more difficult position in my life," Simpson told the Casper Star-Tribune in his homestate of Wyoming. Tony Shepherd is a businessman and a former head of the Commission of Audit. Anyone can read what you share. Indeed, China may be doing so already. As a baby boomer myself, I can be blunt: We boomers won't be remembered as the "Greatest Generation." But the next generation is much smaller than ours, so very soon it will be a case of the few supporting the many. She also tells it like it is! I grew up in the shadow of what Tom Brokaw called " The Greatest Generation .". Over 9 in 10 (91%) of this age group are registered to vote and 90% voted in the 2000 presidential election. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. This generation experienced what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Hollywood". With boomers about to retire, I'm afraid that national priorities will be focused even more powerfully on the elderly rather than the young -- because it's the elderly who wield political clout. Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills 6. His book, The Coming Generational Storm (written with Scott Burns), was published back in 2004. ! The Greediest Generation Report this post Richard Worzel, C.F.A. Instead, the finger prints of the so-called . Fortunately, in 1996 the Chief Actuary of Canada reported that the Plan could not be sustained as it was. !" 1. "Children can't vote, don't give money and have no power, and neither do their parents. We called up Blyth to talk about what alt-work means for the future economy, his thoughts on universal basic income, and whether the Baby Boomers are officially the greediest generation in human . By my estimates, the annual cost of health care, per person, by age, remains reasonably steady (with some noticeable blips, as for men at around age 40) until around age 55, at which point health care costs start going up almost exponentially. I cannot vouch for its accuracy. That home eventually passes tax free to the descendants. [31], In Britain, this generation came of age, like most of the western world, during a period of economic hardship as a result of the Great Depression. For the Seniors Health Card we recommended that untaxed superannuation income be included in adjusted taxable income to determine eligibility. The potential revenue from these additional tax raisings are swamped by the growing budget deficit. Next to jazz, blues, gospel music, and folk music; swing jazz became immensely popular with members of this generation. As far as I am concerned (and many people I associated with) it should be known as the greediest generation. Yet Mother Nature wont be put off; she always gets paid. He said, First shoot the lawyers. He should have said, First shoot the accountants.. "Research note on Chicano community leaders: the GI generation. 24 . As of 2019, approximately 389,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II remain alive. Rather, we'll be scorned as the "Greediest Generation.". I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. But we boomers need to resist the narcissistic impulse to ladle out more resources for ourselves. When the war in Europe began, millions of British citizens joined the war effort at home and abroad. As we've aged, age discrimination has become a basis for lawsuits, and the most litigated right has become the right to die. We can't grow our way out of this mess. We have systematically taken more out of our economy and society than we have put back, looting it for our comfort, convenience, and self-indulgence. Were working to restore it. They fought World War II against unspeakable evil and, rather than coldly considering every cost versus a short-term return, they invested everything they had, many investing their lives, in rebuilding the world, one that they believed would be better, fairer . How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career? [6]AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch database, as cited by yahoo! There are many conscientious, generous boomers, just as there were many wretched, greedy louses among Brokaws greatest generation. We must bite the bullet and rein in expenditure, focusing our support on those who cannot look after themselves. Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, a Republican from Wyoming, actually made the milk cow-Social Security comparison in a 2010 email to a group of older women critical of his proposals to reform the program. Baby Boomers: The Greediest Generation. "The elderly are retired, and it's easier to get them to go to rallies or write their congresspeople," notes Heather Boushey of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "We had the greatest generation," Simpson said. November 28, 2012. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com, Former senator Alan Simpson hypocritically referred to modern Americans as "the greediest generation. In coming years, we'll hear appeals for better nursing homes, for more Alzheimer's research and for more wheelchair-accessible office buildings, and those are good causes. In 1980, a typical American CEOs pay was 42 times that of an average blue-collar workers pay. ", George H. Soule, Prosperity Decade: From War to Depression: 19171929 (1947), Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 18:10, Military history of the United States during World War II, List of last surviving veterans of World War II, "Is It Time to 'Pass the Torch?' compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with . The only way out is to reduce spending. Wyoming Capitol Journal. And yes, Ive made some plenty smart cracks about people on Social Security who milk it to the last degree. . Illinois senator argued Social Security should not be part of fiscal cliff talks. For too long, we have doubted, scoffed at, and chosen to ignore the warnings of climatologists and geophysicists. Baby Boomers. The brilliant Harvard professor, Niall Ferguson, describes the traditional intergenerational compact as our most important social contract and one that is being broken in Western economies. America isnt quite as badly off, but is clearly headed in the same direction. The Greediest Generation is a book about what happened as the largest generation in American history came to power: It shows how "old fashioned" values like saving, underconsuming, and . Simpson's remark became the basis for a caustic anonymous rebuke that was widely circulated on the internet: Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming, Co-Chair of Obama's deficit commission, calls senior citizens "the Greediest Generation" as he compared Social Security to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he. And have seen a lot of consensus leaning towards the "baby boomers are the greediest generation in history" mentality and noticing that the majority of baby boomer generation can afford homes that cost half-a-million-plus homes, retirement, and other seemingly basic luxuries that most of the "middle class" see as unobtainable due to the middle . "We had the greatest generation -- I think this is the greediest generation," he said. 3. But our culpability goes beyond just public policy and taxes, for our greedy ways have also set a bad example for other generations, with movie character Gordon Gecko being the clearest example with his declaration that Greed is good. Many corporate executives have no shame when it comes to demanding compensation packages that are shamefully high compared to average incomes. And an open letter by a woman identified as Patty Myers from Montana began to circulate in 2011. By 2010, it had exploded to 345 times blue-collar pay. Meanwhile, most cities in North America have underinvested in water and sewage systems for decades, and are now having to pony up big-time to repair ancient, leaking systems. As recently as 1966, for example, 29 percent of Americans over 65 were below the poverty line, compared with only 18 percent of American children. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Real Estate Agent with Equity Fifty Five Realty, LLC. But for nearly one third of people (31%) it is a "state public event" while for another 31% it is a memorial day for all former Soviet people. On the other hand, the proportion of children below the poverty line is still 18 percent, the same as it was in 1966. Gen X and Y while being left with the bill have not complained, yet. A 2012 study by Harvard University[5]said that estimates of unfunded public liabilities could range as high as $4.4 trillion. 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