Congressman Lantos mentioned that “we are passing the costs of the Iraq War onto our grandchildren” during his pathetic and long-winded opening statement in the House Armed Services Committee today, which makes me incensed. I am about the age of Lantos’ grandchildren, and I consider it an insult to insist that Iraq is the most pressing fiscal liability facing the future leaders of this country. In fact, compared to the other major spending programs that are facing impending insolvency and financial ruin, such as the Social Security system, Iraq looks like an investment more than a line of credit.
I will pay thousands of dollars over the next few decades into a social welfare system, not a penny of which I will see when I reach retirement age because of the irresponsible management of the system by DC politicians since its inception, yet no Democratic Party leader has the courage to inform young voters about this reality. It disgusts me to read polls that claim 70-80% of young voters (under 35) are aligned with the Democratic Party. What has the Democratic Party done for us exactly to earn this support? The only politician in Washington with the courage to even acknowledge the social security problem has been George W. Bush, but unfortunately he was unable to use his “political capital” effectively after his re-election in 2004 to enact meaningful reform.
Nobody in Washington likes telling their constituents that they are cutting entitlement programs because they assume that it is going to lose them votes and cost them elections. Democrats have no incentive to face reality and help the GOP fix the social security problem because the voters who have the most invested in the long-term stability of the social security system either don’t mind that they are not going to receive a penny back from the system they pay into every week, or they are totally ignorant to the fact that the system is nearly irreparably broken. I would like to think it is ignorance that leads my peers to blindly endorse candidates that are completely detached from reality and actively working against our interests, but perhaps we are an uncharacteristically selfless generation of Americans. Regardless of the reasons for our lack of interest in holding politicians to account for the real fiscal problems facing Washington, if we don’t wise up soon, a war in the Middle East is going to seem like a day at the beach compared to the economic disaster that the collapse of the social welfare system will cause.
Filed under: social security, war in iraq | Tagged: congress, democrats, edwards for congress, federal spending, social security, war in iraq
“no Democratic Party leader has the courage to inform young voters about this reality”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118921605531521357.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
You don’t have to like her, but you should recognize that many, many democrats are concerned about social security.
You talk about change and being a young vision. Partisan rhetoric? Misleading voters on your website? (yes, “no democratic party leader…” is a lie. It’s not a true statement.) More partisan rhetoric?
Oh yeah. Lots of change. Yep, that doesn’t sound anything like the past.
I wish you the best of luck, I do. But don’t go the same route that the current crop of political failures has gone.
I don’t have a subscription to the WSJ, but I am familiar with the speech given by Clinton last week to the Alliance for Retired Americans, and if the article you sent me is referring to that speech, then I simply have no idea what you are talking about. It was one of the most misleading and non-substantive speeches she has given, and all she did was what every other politician does- pander to retirees and voters 40+ with promises of no benefit cuts and no privatization.
I would like a clarification as to what she said that did any justice to the voters I was referring to (under 35) in my brief post, and I promise I am not trying to be snotty. I truly appreciate your comments and I understand your point, but I think you should reconsider your trust of Hillary and her policies. If anything, the speech was viciously deceptive and totally removed from reality. How does she expect anyone to believe that the system is sustainable if we simply balance the budget and get rid of Bush’s tax cuts? That is crazy, Bush’s tax cuts have led to RECORD REVENUES, this is an indisputable fact, yet the social security system is no better off and won’t be unless more drastic action is taken. You are smarter than that, and I am sure I don’t need to tell you that the major problem with the social security system is the “pay as we go” policy of spending taxes received into the welfare system on other government programs.
The only way to fix the system for younger voters is to let us have control over our own contributions in private accounts, and unless we demand this we should have no reason to expect Hillary, Barack or any other candidate to do a damn thing to help us out. I appreciate your kind words, and I welcome your comments always, but I hope you understand that by simply talking about social security is far from trying to alert people to the impending crisis.