Young voters crave intelligent discussion about entitlements

[dkf]

Already disproportionately suffering from a weak economy, young Americans say they're not counting on post-retirement government help. And they are not surprised that the debate over the programs is being driven largely by older people who wouldn't suffer under the most serious proposals under consideration anyway.

If politicians did listen, they might be surprised: Recent survey data indicate that Americans ages 18-29, despite being overwhelmingly liberal, support some conservative ideas for changing the structure of entitlement programs.

Roughly 86 percent of them favor allowing workers to put their Social Security taxes into a private account, as some Republicans have proposed, according to a November 2011 survey by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center. That's much more than the 52 percent of seniors who support the idea.

The Pew "Generation Gap and the 2012 election" study also found that 74 percent of millennials support allowing Medicare participants to "use benefits toward purchasing private insurance," another GOP idea, which got backing from just 48 percent of those 65 and older.

http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2019426427_youngvoters14m.html

[justiceischeap]

1. I wish they'd stop calling them "entitlements"

this is a name the Repubs came up with and now everyone is using it.

[Chiquitita]

5. Agree -- what should we call them?

Entitlement is meant to sound negative and pejorative. What should we call them? What did they used to be called? Social insurance programs? Social safety net?

[OldDem2012]

8. The term ""entitlement" was never meant to be used in any negative sense...

....because we pay into these programs every time we're paid a salary or hourly wage. We EARN these programs, they're not GIVEN to us despite what Romney had to say recently about the "47%". Thanks to GOP efforts over three decades to smear those Government programs, many now feel uncomfortable using the term.

The most important examples of entitlement programs at the federal level in the United States would include Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, most Veterans' Administration programs, federal employee and military retirement plans, unemployment compensation, food stamps, and agricultural price support programs.

[ananda]

2. What's stopping them?

They should be capable of doing the research and
having the discussions.

Consider the implications about young people in
this article... one, that many of them have been
suckered by rightwing ideas about "entitlements"
and two, that they are not capable of doing
research and having discussions.

If anyone doesn't know by now that the very
word "entitlement" is racist then, well, I'd say
that they have been living with their heads in
the sand.

[brindis_desala]

3. You have chosen to quote

the misconceptions the writer assiduously debunks. Why? Never mind, we all know.
Those who truly want an understanding of where such opinions stand need to read the whole piece.

[pipoman]

4. "young voters" are who always screw our party

every time I see polls of "young voters" it appears they are all with us, then after the vote like 1% of young voters actually vote...they all say they are going to, but alas...

[Chiquitita]

6. My favorite comment on the article

"The simple answer is vote. Want the powers that be, to listen to you? Vote. Seniors, NRA members and Religious groups, vote and they vote in large numbers. They vote in every election, in all kinds of weather coniditions. They vote for the person that best represents their interests and those people who get those votes, listen. So if you are young and you do not think that your earned beneifits (social security and medicare) will not be there for you when you retire. Walk up to the ballot box on November 6th and vote. Start voting in every election there after and your earned beneifits will be there for you."

I teach at a University and most young people really have not looked closely enough into this issue to have a well-founded critical opinion on it. Any under 30 DUer's out there?

[alc]

7. not just the young voters

I won't be eligible for 15+ years and I don't expect to get what I'm entitled to (based on my contributions) in these programs. The sooner we start making changes, the smaller they can be and the less change that will be needed in benefits. If we wait 10 years, I'll still get something but current 20-30 year olds are screwed.