As the country approaches the "fiscal cliff", it is becoming clear that both parties are ready to let the old codgers take the fall. I keep hearing that entitlements must be whittled down. Evidently, old farts like me are not entitled. I'm not entitled to a Medicare plan that adequately takes care of the needs of the elderly. If I had known years ago that this great nation planned to reneg on heath care promises, I 'd like to think that I would have handled my retirement planning a bit differently. Then there is Social Security. For years the budget gurus have been raiding Social Security funds. Now it is an entitlement that I'm not really entitled to even though I faithfully paid my FICA taxes while employed. Politicians would have me believe that it's some kind of a gift of that can be wrapped differently depending on who is doing the wrapping.
I do not pretend to have a solution for what ails this country. Making life difficult for the elderly should not be one of them. I've never felt so unwanted as I do these days and it reminds me of the movie "Soylent Green".
The movie depicted a country in 2022 suffering from overpopulation, global warming,
widespread unemployment, poverty, a shortage of fruit, vegetables and meat. Pick
up any paper today and you will find reports about the danger of global warming,
rising unemployment, rising food prices, soaring health care costs, and the
graying of the population. Not quite the country portrayed in "Soylent Green" but
similar.
The "Soylent Green solution" is not on Washington's agenda, In its place, perhaps they will come up with something like the "cash for clunkers" program which was designed to get old, inefficient vehicles off the road. I wonder how much cash my heirs would get?
( I'm actually not feeling as sorry for myself as this post sounds, but I am pissed about how easily politicians dismiss the needs of an aging population.)
No comments:
Post a Comment