To the older members of DU

[madfloridian]

8. Third Way president started the generation divide in the 90s. Greedy seniors.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/7856

Dear Grandma and Grandpa:

We write to ask for your help. We're in a financial mess, and unless everyone in our family gets together to fix the problem, we're heading for "economic and fiscal catastrophe." That's not a phrase we picked up on MTV-it's from a recent U.S. government report on the budget deficit.

This year alone America's budget deficit will be nearly $300 billion, which means we're spending $300 billion more than we take in. That's $300 billion on top of the $4.2 trillion debt we've already built up, enough to pay basketball star Michael Jordan's salary for almost a million and a half years.

The truth is, today's retirees get their benefits directly out of the paychecks of working Americans, the majority of whom are less affluent than those they support. True, you paid into the system. But so do we. And right now, we're paying FICA taxes at rates 20 times (inflation adjusted) what you paid as a young worker.

And there's no end in sight.

And here's the real kicker:

We are not ungrateful. We respect and value the sacrifices you've made for our country and have no desire to take money away from those in need. But our generation is in trouble. We were educated in a collapsing school system. Our incomes and skill levels are lower than any previous generation-by the year 2000 over one-third of younger Americans will be living in poverty. And we will be the first Americans to inherit a lower standard of living than our parents. We're not asking that your generation solve all our problems. And there certainly are many other programs that also must be cut to get the deficit under control. But Social Security must be considered, just like everything else in the budget.

Really. Jon Cowan is now prez of the Third Way, and he's still a jerk.