Join the Geezer Rebellion!

[eridani]

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff04252011.html

I am 62 and have just reached the age where I could apply for Social Security retirement benefits. Of course, I'd be crazy to do that and collect some $700 a month for the rest of my life, when I could keep working and wait until I'm 70 and get $2000 a month.

But the point is, I've arrived. I'm a "senior." And now I'm paying a lot more attention to what the Right and its paymaster, the corporate lobby, are trying to do, not just to my retirement plan (which is Social Security. period), but also to Medicare, the program upon which my medical care will depend once my wife decides to retire from her university job.

The picture is not pretty. Both the Republicans, and the pathetic Democrats, led by President Barack Obama, are talking brazenly about cutting back on Social Security, and on Medicare. The Republicans openly say they want to kill Medicare and secretly want to end Social Security too, which is the agenda of most of the corporations which fund lobbies like the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Assn. of Manufacturers, the Business Roundtable, etc. Oh, I know they say they're only talking about "changes" for people who are under 55, but that's just for starters. The goal is to ruin the program for younger workers, and then make them resent what we older folks still get. Then the next step will be to eradicate both programs altogether.

But here's the thing. The reason these parties and lobbies are trying so hard now to use the recession and the national deficit as cover to decimate and destroy these two proven and critically important social programs into which all working Americans have been paying all our working lives, is that they realize what most 50 and 60-something Americans haven't realized yet: that we are about to become the most powerful political force in the country, and that we are certainly going to demand both an excellent government Medicare program, and a decent retirement program.

The way I see it, we in the Baby Boom generation--those people born between 1946 and about 1964--are just starting to hit retirement age. In another 10 years, we will become a political force twice as powerful and certainly more than twice as noisy and demanding as the current senior lobby. We can either wait until then, after they have successfully gutted the two programs we depend on, making it so we have to fight to recreate or restore them, or we can start organizing now to defend and improve them, and save ourselves a whole lot of trouble.

[99th_Monkey]

1. Can I still join the Boomer Revolution if I was born in 1943?

I've always thought of myself as a "Boomer", and my radical credentials are all still a matter of record I believe.

I'm glad you're onto how "They" want to divide and conquer. It's the Rethuglican way. Nice post.

[eridani]

2. Sure! My DH was born in 1942, and he's a member n/t

[99th_Monkey]

4. Kewl! Sign me up then. I'm rarin' to go for the corporate jugular.

psst. ... what's a "DH"?

[Raine]

9. "DH" ... Dear or Darling Husband

I'm pretty sure is what it stands for. :-)

[99th_Monkey]

17. Thanx. nt

[DrDan]

12. Nope - it's a closed club . . .

You can vote with our block, however.

But if we started to let just everyone in, you know what would happen. All these Xers, etc would want in also.

[99th_Monkey]

18. *snap* ~nt

[Warren DeMontague]

27. No

hate to break it to you, but, ah, we wouldn't.

[99th_Monkey]

33. Spoken like a true Portlander. Thanks for being true to your school. ~nt

[Warren DeMontague]

37. Well, I've moved around alot.

But I'm definitely Gen X, despite the hippie sensibilities. :hippie:

[Keith Bee]

30. Ecck! Three years early!

I'm just kidding, actually: These "generational" peggings are the epitome of :dunce:

[JDPriestly]

3. Working to 70 sounds great. The reality is that right now

very few us can get or keep jobs once we are in our 60s. That is especially true if you had to change jobs in your 40s or 50s. The economy of today just doesn't need the labor, the contributions of so many older people.

Other than that, I definitely support the geezer rebellion.

[WinkyDink]

14. No, teaching until 70 sounds like the 7th Circle of Hell.

[canetoad]

5. I've been my own geezer rebellion

Ever since I hit 50 and will continue to do so as long as I can...

However, those born between '46 and '64 are hitting 50 at youngest, 65 or so oldest; not the most militant sector of the population for a number of reasons.

Factor in the physical difficulties and discomforts of getting to a polling station, in a country where voting is not compulsory....I can't see a revolution on the horizon.

Nice, rhetorical comments but far from reality.

[WinkyDink]

15. We WERE militant. The 1960's DID happen. Now---Let the young worry about THEIR futures.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

6. I am a boomer in the middle of the stretch.

I think most of us are healthier than previous generations.

My grandparents & great-uncles were born in the 1890s, and in the 1960s, they, most of them, were OLD. They got good medical care. I mean gray hair, shuffling along with a cane, old.

My parents had heart bypasses and pacemakers, and when they were in their 60s and 70s they were in better shape than their parents. My folks were both in their 80s when they died but Mom was in bad shape due to lack of activity.

I think the boomers are in turn, generally a lot healthier than previous generations.
A lot of have chronic things wrong with us that won't kill us real soon but they are annoying.

[WinkyDink]

16. 1890--1960 IS 70 years; why wouldn't they be OLD?

[madamesilverspurs]

7. Well, here's a geezer.

Or geezerette, I guess. Whatever. Point is, I'm eminently qualified. And my somewhat hair-triggered cane has gained a measure of notoriety the last couple of years, earning me some precious personal space when in the vicinity of teabaggers and other varmints. My new (R)rep already winces when he sees me coming. We've got a sizable group of boomer Dems, just grew a bit when a newly retired public defender joined our number. We went last week to hear Angela Davis, this weekend we'll be there to "welcome" John Ashcroft. Heh.

They're rattling our collective cage at their peril. They think we'll roll over and go quietly. Idiots. Guess they'll find out how loudly we can BOOM.

-

[truedelphi]

8. You also need to be aware that when the Health Care Reform Act

Was passed, one of the provisions was that 500 billion would be cut from Medicare.

As someone who has worked in the field of geriatrics, I found it hard to find a doctor for my patients when they entered the Medicare system, as doctors didn't see much profit in Medicare. But according to everyone who fashioned the HCR Act, there is some 500 billion to trim back.

Just another example of what is going on. No money for social programs, plenty of money for the on going wars, and for Wall Street.

[OKNancy]

10. Not true. 500 billion was NOT cut

"The average person viewing these ads is likely to get the impression that Medicare’s annual budget is slated to be slashed by $500 billion per year — and no doubt that’s the impression opponents hope voters will take with them to the polls. But in fact, plans call for Medicare spending to continue to grow.

Where does the $500 billion come from? Well, Medicare spending is now slated to increase less than was previously projected, and over the course of 10 years, the total difference between previously projected spending and actual spending is slated to add up to about $500 billion."

excerpt from one of many article I googled
http://www.lenconnect.com/opinions/editorials/x83589705/Our-View-500-billion-cut-in-Medicare-funds-No-not-really

[nenagh]

11. truedelphi, because you are in the field of geriatrics, I have a question..

In Ontario, Canada, the healthcare system for people over 65 will not pay for some medical procedures.. and also regulates what medications will be covered

eg My understanding is that a bone marrow transplant will not be covered for my type of cancer, after a person is over 65 years.

Now that is just fine with me.. because there are many other therapies that will be paid for by the system.

I wondered, is this the same in the Medicare system? and then further wondered if part of the desire by Repubs to break the Medicare system.. could be based on wanting to be able to get paid for medical therapies not currently covered by Medicare..

If so, costs would go up astronomically..

I don't know if I am making sense to you.. :(

[truedelphi]

23. I don't know specifically about bone marrow transplants.

Here in the United States, many seniors have supplemental insurance that kicks in for what Medicare doesn't cover. I can't think of any seniors who needed anything not receiving the treatment, if it was a valid procedure that would extend their life. But at least ninety percent of my patients had the supplemental insurance, as they were wealthy. So I am not sure how typical what I saw actually was.

I don't know if there is some plan to have therapies not currently covered come into full coverage, but it seems more like the Republicans simply want to cut all social programs to the bone.

When I first started work as a personal nursing assistant to people, back in the eighties, Medicare had ample money for many programs. Seniors were even visited by nurses just on account of their wanting to have visitors.(though the caretaker or family did have to fudge a little and come up with some medical reason for the visit.)

Nursing visits are now much more tightly controlled.

I have heard it said that typically, two thirds of the money spent on a person here in the USA is spent on them during their last eighteen months on the planet. And that seems to be true. Especially given that so many people do not have health insurance when they are in their fifties and early sixties. So by the time they get on Medicare, they have real problems.

Once the older person does find a doctor, (which as I said in my earlier post, is a real challenge), they will get adequate testing, and adequate treatment. And thankfully, more and more doctors who treat the elderly are now taking adequate training in programs that have to do with the elderly. So the older person who has depression will now usually get anti-depressants, rather than being told, as they were some twenty years ago: "you're old, of course you are depressed, but so what! You are old!"

Although it is also becoming more and more common for people to refuse treatment after a certain point, especially if they are in very advanced range of life. (Like my dad refusing treatment at the age of ninety - he didn't see much point in finding out what was wrong with him , as he felt it was his time to go.)

[WinkyDink]

13. Missing 8 years at $700/mo = Losing $67,200. Waiting, if you live until 73, you're even.

That's the bet.

[eridani]

19. Good point. I did an Excel spreadsheet and looked at my grandparents'

--ages at death, and decided to go early. May not make sense for everyone though.

[socialist_n_TN]

20. Already there my aged friend!

:) I was a revolutionary Marxist in my teens and 20s and guess what? I'm STILL a revolutionary Marxist on the cusp of 60 (this year). I'm actually, probably MORE radical now than I was then and I've got a lot more experience now too.

Here's the thing though. I don't want to make this ONLY about boomers. At least half the boomers will be under the old system anyway. At least until they change it. This is something that EVERYBODY needs to get behind. The younger folks don't know it in their heart of hearts, but the BEST laid plans for retirement can be overturned in a heartbeat by life's travails. We ALL need the commons, even if you're 20 years old and just starting to work. It's a intergenerational PROMISE by God, that's held for 80 years (for Social Security anyway) and it WORKS. I want it for my 21 year old daughter when I'm dead and gone and she retires.

[Overseas]

26. Well said!

[eridani]

29. We have to do it becaust thinking of the future means

your career or finding Mr. or Ms. Right (or Mr. or Ms. Right Now) if you ar 25, and your kids's educations when you are 35. Just remembering myself at those ages, and trying to imagine myself being concerned about retirement. Can't do it.

[sarcasmo]

21. A noisy force with plenty of time to make some noise.

[Chris_Texas]

22. Let's hear it for today's seniors! Great job running things guys!!!

Maybe one day our nation will recover.

[Hannah Bell]

34. sorry, they weren't running things. nice winger spin, though.

[Lifelong Protester]

24. Sign. Me. Up.

As we start retiring and have a LOT more FREE time on our hands, I say we organize and become the tsunami they are afraid of.

[Overseas]

25. K&R!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

28. please follow up on this...we definitely need to organize

If you have an idea of what and where we can sign up, then sign me up!

(I'm 53, and I want to get started early)

[jtown1123]

38. I'm a member of the

NCPSSM (National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare).

They lobby members of Congress on our behalf, run radio ads inside the beltway and Congressional districts, etc. on protecting SS and Medicare. www.ncpssm.org

If anything, check out their Facebook page. They do a lot of advocacy stuff there and share news and analysis www.facebook.com/nationalcommittee

[BlancheSplanchnik]

41. Thanks!

hmm, I wonder, is AARP involved too? One would think....

[Desertrose]

31. Count me in...just had a birthday....

Guess I'm official.... :)

[Hannah Bell]

32. kr

"The goal is to ruin the program for younger workers, and then make them resent what we older folks still get. Then the next step will be to eradicate both programs altogether."


It's the same strategy they used to bust private unions; two-tier. It works. Don't let them get away with it. Elders, don't sell out youth in hopes of keeping your mess of pottage. Youth, don't be swayed by the politics of envy; you don't think so now, but you *will* get old & sick, & you *won't* like having your elderly parents & grandparents dependent on you.

[socialist_n_TN]

40. Right on Hannah. Eventually.........

we ALL become "useless eaters", whether your 21 or 91.

[crickets]

35. Ack--too late to rec.

Late boomer here, and count me in!

[Rusticus Too]

36. Google "Thom Hartmann" and "Cash for Geezers"

[eleny]

39. Born in '46!

:hi: