In case no one has been noticing what is happening on the U.S. economic scene while the Europeans bail out the Greeks, the Irish, the Portuguese and others >> employment is stagnating with record high levels of unemployment, corporate executives are receiving record high bonuses, and the political scene is turning over like a small town's sewer lagoon in the spring (the bottom sludge comes to the top losing a stench).

The Congress in clammoring to bring all the troops home -- not because they have suddenly turned "peace-nicks" ; but because they don't want to pay for them.

The huge debate is over the debt and borrowing to maintain the cash-flow needed to keep the government running. The "Debt Ceiling" will supposedly keep the government from borrowing and force the Treasury to tell bond holders that they can't have their interest ( nor maybe even the principal ). That's called a "default" which can force private outfits into a thing called << bankruptcy >>. Since we are not a Latin American country, probably no one will send in their Marines to seize out tax sources so they can collect what we owe them.

However, one can look back in history to see how the Euopean Monarchies (such as the Hapsburg family empire centered on Austria) who went bankrupt settled their debts -- they devalued their currency; all at once rather than just a tiny bit each year called inflation which today the public is led to believe is directly connected with economic growth. The government makes the money on hand fit the debt owed. Suggest that to the bank that holds the mortgage on your house.

Meanwhile back on the ranch, the Congress is looking frantically for places to cut spending. Guess who is early in line to "go under the bus?" Why the old, economically useless and non-productive aka "retirees" of course. Look at the attitude players openly express about the NPCs in the game Tropico. Tropico players are the perfect image of the U.S. voters who absolutely reject paying taxes for any purpose which is not a direct (within one mile) benefit to them, personally.

Now remember that the U.S. after about ten years of very active wars has a large population of military veterans who are not old, but are maimed by combat to the extent that they are economically restricted or non-productive aka disabled (more or less).

So the race is on. Who first gets thrown out of the wagon to the wolves chasing it? The old or the war maimed? Post your guess.

Gotta cut back somewhere. No, we really have to.

That being said, I doubt you'll see the gov't cut benefits to retirees anytime in the near future. Why? 55+ is now one of the largest voting groups.

Honestly, I am just waiting for the damn boomers to try to strangle my generation to get the funds for Social Security and health care. I am enjoying paying Social Security knowing that I sure as hell won't be collecting. Hooray for a government run Ponzi scheme that is veiled as a benefit for the public!

Honestly, war veterans often get tossed first. After that is anyone's guess.
Education, maybe? Another broken system.

But if it were my pick, I'd probably cut down on foreign intervention first. Get US troops the hell out of Japan, stop paying aid to people that want to burn us alive, etc. etc.

(08-06-2011 05:37 PM)IronFist Wrote:  ... I am enjoying paying Social Security knowing that I sure as hell won't be collecting. ...

I respectfully suggest that people who make that statement have not made a sound analysis. Yes, I say that because I don't trust the actuaries any more than I trust the economists.

Of course, you may not collect even though the money is there because the straight-line projection for a constantly increasing life-expectancy may suddenly collapse as health care technology and environmental pollution collide in a heap of wreckage -- and you will die before you expect to.

Consider the population as a pipeline, infants in - geezers out. First and last quarters with very little productivity; the main economic engine is the middle 50%. If you fiddle with the model by shifting the percentages, you screw-up the productivity. The main engine has to support the whole pipeline no matter how you tinker with it.

Consider that the post WWII population surge in the U.S. has two underlying factors seldom mentioned: a} It is the first generation to benefit from uniform and widespread enforcement of the pure food and drug laws together with great advancements in medical care technology. b} It is the first generation to suffer from the introduction of thousands of esoteric chemicals into the environment. "Better Living Through Chemistry" let the genie out of the bottle.

So I suggest that one not trust straight-line projections of how the population surge passes through the last part of the pipeline.