Legal Commentary

Don't Blame it On the Baby Boomers

By Jeralyn

The first baby boomer turned 65 on January 1. Millions more will follow. ABC News has a video report, dissing the boomers in every way: from calling them "demanding" to implying they are only concerned about themselves and their needs.

The worst is when the reporter says boomers will soon be demanding social security and medicare, "payable by the generations that came after them."

As if baby boomers are asking for a free ride. [More...]

Most of us have worked for the past 45 years, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars into medicare and social security. We don't get interest on that money, we had no choice but to pay it. I've paid in more than I'll ever get back in benefits. So no one from a younger generation is paying for my medicare and social security. All I'll be getting back in return is a small part of what I paid in.

Maybe ABC is trying to start a generational war. I don't get the insults to the baby boomers. It's not like we sat on our duffs for 45 years.

If social security and medicare aren't around for the next generation, isn't it more likely to be because our government spent billions of dollars on wars we didn't need to fight? Also consider the extra money in the fund from the baby boomers who died before age 65. They paid in, and unless they had minor age children when they died, never got benefits back. And many baby boomers will die before age 70 and 75, receiving only a fraction of what they paid in.

I'm no economist, but when I look at the annual statement I get from Social Security, I can't believe how small my benefits will be compared to how much I paid in.

Memo to ABC News and the younger generation: If there's an enemy out there when it comes to social security and medicare, look elsewhere, because it's not our doing.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 02, 2011 (boomark / email).