Published Apr 30, 2019 + Follow by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. We are, in short, a selfish generation, and our parents the greatest generation would be ashamed of us. compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with . How could you do this?'". That's false. The means test for aged care does not include the full value of the family home. [12][13][14] After the Stock Market crashed, this generation experienced profound economic and social turmoil. Every year on Veterans Day, we baby boomers look around and see fewer and fewer members of the Greatest Generationour parents and grandparents who rose en mass to fight a terrible war and keep us safe. But as one commentator remarked centuries ago, we get the government we deserve. The veins in my temples throbbed. 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. Support for those most in need is threatened by support for those who are more able to look after themselves. This generation experienced what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Hollywood". Why shouldnt he try? When we boomers fully retire, our kids will need to pay each of us, on average, $50,000 in todays dollars to cover our retirement benefits. I grew up in the shadow of what Tom Brokaw called " The Greatest Generation .". [38], The World War II generation of Japan came of age during a time of rapid imperialism. That has not been easy, and it has required real sacrifices from us to do it. . They were part of what is called "the greatest generation." My generation is, I think, is the "greediest generation." My parents, as did the parents of many of my generation, wanted a better life for their children. 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. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. Commentary: Baby boomers out, 'cuspers' in. Here's a response in a letter from PATTY NYE from Illinois . ", 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?' It's a bum rap, although he is noted as a world-class liar. 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. People I've known, relatives [saying], 'You son of a bitch. It's not possible to precisely calculate his annual retirement benefits without knowing which retirement plan he selected (among other factors), but if we assume he was covered under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), we could estimate that his annual annuity would be about $43,000. Generation Jones is the social cohort of the latter half of the Baby boomer generation to the first year of Generation X. 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. We can't grow our way out of this mess. "Hey Dick, let's get a few things straight!!! [7] Strauss and Howe use the birth years 19011924. Not just going fishing: Higher mortgage debt levels are keeping Baby Boomers in the workforce for longer, Ahuri research shows. Always say what you mean ! Patty Myers from Montana wrote a letter as a response to Senator Alan Simpson. We've also lost ground in child vaccinations: the United States now ranks 84th in the world for measles immunizations and 89th for polio. Durbin said Social Security . This article is more than 10 years old. Don't expect any sympathy, Trumpy. Stalin's scorched earth policy left its western regions in a state of devastation worsened by the advancing German army. I think she is a little ticked off! None of that changes the macro-effects of the way we have lived our lives. Patricia Bealer says: September 16, 2018 at 11:00 pm. Our evil ways will lead to tears, both for us and for the generations that come after us. The comment of calling senior citizens the greediest generation was made by Senator Simpson in response to criticism from the opposition of the Simpson Bowles proposal to reduce the deficit and cut spending. ", I chatted today with Kotlikoff (a boomer himself) about the reaction. And they have no choice; without water a city becomes a ghost town. Both arguments are flawed and self-serving. 24 November 2010. A lot less. Its made no such promises for most of its official Treasury bills and bonds. Our slogan has gone from "free love" to "free blood pressure medicine.". Not surprisingly, many of the debt commission's draft proposals to cut the debt by nearly $4 trillion by 2020 from raising the retirement age to 69 by 2075 to bringing in $1 trillion more in tax revenue have won strong opposition from liberals and conservatives alike. "Hey Dick, let's get a few things straight!! They did it!. Alan Simpson spent half a century in government service, including three terms as a senator representing Wyoming in the U.S. Congress. Sarah Dunant owns up to being a member of the greediest generation - the baby boomers. Brokaw wrote that these men and women fought not for fame or recognition, but because it was the "right thing to do". Indeed, in a 2003 report by Peter S. Heller for the International Monetary Fund, Canadas implicit net governmental debt load, counting unfunded and contingent liabilities, amounted to more than 3 times Canadas Gross Domestic Product (GDP), much of it due to the future costs of its health care system. In 1998, former news anchor Tom Brokaw wrote a book called The Greatest Generation. And now that the bills are coming due, the boomers are looking for ways to renege on the promises theyve made, as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker did when he tore up the retirement deals the state had with civil servants, and curtailed civil servant bargaining rights because (it seems to me) civil servant unions were better at negotiating than decades of elected officials. Per TPM: "We had the greatest generation," Simpson said. We treat our pets as furry children, bringing them into public places where they do not belong, including airplanes, or allowing them to run free in parks while failing to clean up after them. Elder followed 167 individuals born in California between 1920 and 1921 and "traced the impact of Depression and wartime experiences from the early years to middle age. She says they've earned the title of the "greediest generation . I think she is a little ticked off! 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. In 1935, Hitler instituted military conscription. Instead, were most likely going to enact relatively modest tax hikes (some have already been made) and slowly trim Social Security and health care benefits. The hot issue of the moment is Social Security, and the newest entitlement program is a prescription drug benefit for the elderly. Anyone can read what you share. The good news is that the American people seem to realize this. "Al Simpson Speaks Out Against Debt Committee Critics, Political Climate." 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. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN 5. 43 years later and they are still underwater. Infrastructure is probably the least sexy thing taxpayers are asked to pay for, but one of the most critical. From an e-mail. We need to do the sameindeed much morebecause we are in far worse shape than any of those countries. . The World War II generation of the Soviet Union was further decimated by the war. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay of YOUR debt. Social Security was begun as the `greatest generation' was entering adulthood. As a group, we baby boomers have made no comparable sacrifice. We are called the Sandwich Generation for a reason, because weve found ourselves serving, and in many cases, supporting our parents, our children, and even our grandchildren. David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994. The bad news is they think this can be accomplished by slashing discretionary programs. 22 They spank their kids. My eyes got squinty and my face got red. Japanese cities, towns, and villages were devastated by Allied bombing campaigns. In the same ad, it points out Wagner called seniors citizens the "greediest generation" in an interview with PennLive's editorial board in 2016. 24 . The Greatest Generation paved a golden road for the Greediest Generation. She wonders if after asking for a range of personal freedoms, they are now asking for the . It was politicians of that same generation who added on Medicare to burden the so-called social security trust fund while profligately plundering that same fund to provide more entitlements to that generation. No one knows, but they easily run into the trillions of dollars. Always mean what you say ! But, he added, if the boomers insist on getting theirs, were going to take everybody down, including ourselves., This is a BETA experience. In July, Baby Boomers should vote for posterity and not for themselves. C Brewer. He argued that these men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the 'right thing to do And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. The Social Security mess was created by the Greatest Generation and the Boomers were left holding the empty bag.. This week the secretaries of the Treasury and the Department of Finance have spoken on expenditure restraint in unusually blunt terms. 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. Durbin, a Senator from Illinois calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security " to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. You promise them big pensions and retirement benefits at some distant, later date. But whats worse, and indicative of how the boomers have managed things, is what happened to the money collected by the Social Security Administration (SSA) intended to (partially) fund Social Security pensions. 1. 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. Our rate of domestic investment was also in the 10 to 15% range in the 50s and 60s. Camarillo, Alberto M. (1 October 1971). 2. So while millennials are often portrayed as the greedy ones, there is a case to say baby boomers are the greediest generation ever. Thats a formula for disaster. I originally wrote this in 2014, and got . The sad truth is that there are not nearly enough `bridges to nowhere' in the budget to close the fiscal gap. Simply warning them that fiscal catastrophe looms may not be enough to bring them around. But Simpson said that while every interest group that testified before his committee agreed that the mounting federal debt is a national tragedy, they would then talk about why government funding to their area of interest shouldn't be touched. [4]Shackford, Scott; $2.8 Trillion in Unfunded State Pension Debts: Congressional Republicans Look to Block Federal Bailout, 27 Sept. 2012, http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/27/28-trillion-in-unfunded-state-pension-de, [5]Healey, Thomas, et al; Underfunded Public Pensions in the United States: The Size of the Problem, the Obstacles to Reform and the Path Forward, Harvard Kennedy School for Business & Government, http://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/mrcbg/publications/fwp/2012-08. 43 years ago, I made enough money on silver and gold minicontracts to afford a getaway A-frame in the woods AND to pay for my ex-wife's law school . She also tells it like it is! This material may not be reproduced without permission. One member of this generation, Hirohito, would become Emperor in 1926, when Japan was already one of the great powers. By Nicholas D. Kristof. One of them attributed the greediest generation quote to Dick Durbin and the follow-up letter to an Illinois woman named Patty Nye. In 1980, a typical American CEOs pay was 42 times that of an average blue-collar workers pay. It gives people a good idea of just how much their taxes could (instead of will) rise unless radical changes in government spending are made. Generation" was first used in 1971 by Alberto M. Camarillo in an article for the academic journal Aztln: A Journal of Chicano Studies, titled "Research note on Chicano community leaders: the GI generation. To the contrary, everything I've seen since then merely confirms my earlier conclusions. These future liabilities arent captured by the official debt measure, which receives all the press attention. Yet, repeatedly, in city after city, state after state, and province after province in North America, governments have elected to defer, postpone, and avoid infrastructure investments until now, when the bills are coming due. [4], The term "G.I. That home eventually passes tax free to the descendants. Countries such as Sweden have rolled back company and personal taxes to encourage investment and jobs in an economy that was going backwards. The Greediest Generation. Dick Durbin, a Senator from Illinois calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security " to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. For 2009 it would be negative 1.5% were it not for investment in the U.S. by China and other countries. Nearly 18 million members of this generation would fight in World War II and approximately 3 million, including civilians, would be killed or wounded. In 2018 this item began circulating again, this time substituting Senator Dick Durbin's (D-IL) name for Simpson's. (I know, since Im the editor responsible for the column.). The solution is not to force the elderly to get by on cat food again. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. 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