Isn't this great news!!! Hey, Retirees, fuck you! Hahahahaha. We hope you starve to death.

[Stinky The Clown]

At the very time it is clear that retirees, especially baby boomers, including those who have done all the right things all their lives with respect to savings, find their nest eggs reduced to broken shells, the government decides to tighten their support - no social security increases for you, chumps.

You thought we'd stand by you?

Hahahahahaha

Fools

Hoping for single payer national health care???

BWWWWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA

They HATE your sorry asses. No soup for you, motherfucker.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/02/MNLI17DIJ1.DTL

[havocmom]

1. When you are no longer strong enough to be exploited, you better be rich enough to consume

otherwise, you have no value in Corporate Controlled America.

I figured that out years ago when I got sick and couldn't walk for several weeks.

[patrice]

2. Yep. Boomers are going to be left to the tender mercies of whoever is coming after Generation X

Euthanasia by any other name is STILL Euthanasia.

Here's a hot tip: Invest in the Hospice INDUSTRY.

[starroute]

49. Forget hospices -- Medicare doesn't cover them and they're expensive

Boomers are just going to have to die alone.

[patrice]

66. Nah, they'll keep us out of the streets, warehoused, for fear of spooking the others.

[stray cat]

3. And the solution is? Are you willing to pay to help me retire after I lost my 401K?

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Your 401K is out cattin' around with my 401K

Am I willing to be socialistic with what resources I have?

Yes.

Are you?

[DrDan]

61. of course . . . there are, thankfully, many of us that are

all D's, of course.

Children and Seniors. Can't ignore their needs. We have to step up to the plate.

Education. Healthcare. Scam-protection. Gotta step up.

[patrice]

68. We have learned from our mistakes. Let's show the others How.

[patrice]

67. Me too! Let's do it.

I also have something like at least 10 Xs the skills of some of these younger generations.

[roguevalley]

80. I am willing. We all go together or we all die together. This reminds

me of Stalingrad in winter. You are mine and I am yours. That is how we get out of this.

[barbiegeek]

5. No pity, they gave us 30 years of Conservatives

I have no pity for the boomers, they have forced us to live in 30 years of the Republican Revolution and destruction of FDR's policies.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Your parents might have considered celibacy

[Hepburn]

12. Duzy....

....:applause:

[yy4me]

42. Beautiful! n/t

[TahitiNut]

47. !

:applause:

[Kalyke]

53. Why the snark?

The poster has a point.

The Boomers are the biggest Republicans currently (well, up until recently when only freaks and weirdos identify themselves as Republicans). But, polling up until recently showed that the largest age group of Republicans were those between 30 and 59 - kind of a mix of Boomers and Xers, but still a valid point.

Just wondering why you took her post the wrong way. :shrug:

[liberalmuse]

7. I'm a 'Joneser' (tail-end boomer)

And I sure as hell have never voted for a Republican in my life. But I understand what you are saying. W is a boomer, and boomers allowed him to take office with less votes. The boomers are the ones responsible for this mess, and yes, I take responsibility as well for being a part of that generation. I just hope your generation is humane enough to lift euthanasia bans. Pet food can only get one so far. I live in Washington, which is kind of a relief.

[Danascot]

19. Good News: Dog Food Tastes Just Like Pâté

If the recession gets worse, we may be eating dog food for dinner.

Don't laugh. It's apparently tastier than you'd expect.

In the last few years, organic dog food made with human-grade free range meat and fresh vegetables has spiked in popularity among health-conscious shoppers. Some companies even claim, for instance, that "humans actually taste our foods, as part of our QC process!"

What's surprising is that some of the new organic dog foods taste as good as (or as bad as) similar human foods, like liverwurst and duck liver mousse, according to a working paper circulated on Friday by the American Association of Wine Economists.

The paper is titled "Can People Distinguish Pâté from Dog Food?" and it concluded that, well, they can't.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/01/tech/main4984433.shtml

[raccoon]

28. Boomers didn't put stupid in office; the Supreme Court did.

"The boomers are the ones responsible for this mess, and yes, I take responsibility as well for being a part of that generation. "

YOU might feel responsible for "this mess." I refuse to accept guilt for it.

[patrice]

70. It's the "Great Generation" who is in love with Ron Reagan.They also have a lot of nostalgia for War

Everyone has responsibility for what has happened.

[cali]

8. I have no pity for the rank stupidity that beams out from your post,

not much stupider than the broad brush painting of millions of people.

[Butch350]

9. FU!!

[Hubert Flottz]

11. I have to agree with you on that!

[Hepburn]

14. Second that...+2. n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

10. You're so full of it and yourself. What 30 year period are you talking about? The so-called

'Republican Revolution' didn't happen until 1980 and ended in 1992, although most of the GOP keeps claiming it's still in effect. I'm a true 'boomer' and have never voted for a Repub in my life.

[Kalyke]

55. But most Boomers have - and continue to.

Please look at statistics.

Up until this year, those who self-identify as Republicans, in poll after poll after poll, are highest in the age group of 30 to 59, which, up until this year, ironically, would have been the age of most Boomers (and some Joneser and Xers).

I see an awful lot of piling onto barbiegeek's post by Boomers, but she's right - the Boomers have been keeping the Republicans in office. It's the under 30 crowd who are consistently Democrats.

[create.peace]

83. i don't understand the years people use for determining boomers.

how can someone who was 10 in 1974 be called a boomer. when i was a young baby boomer (born in 49) i remember it referring to the kids conceived within the 8-10 years after the troops returned home, lustily impregnating anyone in their path. we get painted with the brush that paints the me generation who grew up between my children and me.

[blueworld]

36. we need a lot of things, but pity ain't one of them

I didn't realize there were "sharp-edge" etc. varieties of boomers - I thought we were all just working-class old farts gettin' screwed over by the rich old farts. Again. Who knew?

We don't need pity - I never voted for a GOP presidential candidate either, but I put in tons of work hours for companies that are cutting pensions & benefits now. In violation of agreements we signed decades ago.

My generation includes some major sphincters, but most of them are Bush-type rich brats & every generation has them. Look seriously at what the rest of us have given this country for 60 years, and how hard we've worked. And in America, we're all equal - the sphincters collect SS too if they want it. When I paid my tons of tax money & SS taxes, plenty of older sphincters got it - I didn't get to choose based on who they voted for.

If the gummit don't help me, darlin', you'll have to through MUCH higher tax burdens 'cause I'll be starvin' on the hospital steps, crying & smelling up the coffee house next door. Spreadin' germs & lowering your property values - ugh!

Seriously - we honored our agreements & paid into SS for previous generations. We want & need them to honor their agreements to us - they instituted a SS retirement age scale years ago that will keep most of us working until almost 70. They can give up the big bonuses & summer homes. Peace, dudette.

:hippie:

[Adelante]

37. Bullshit - I never voted for a Republican in my life nt

[anonymous171]

38. Correct. You reap what you sow. nt

[barbtries]

40. boomer here

never voted for a republican. NEVER. your comment is as sensible as saying fuck all americans because of the war in aggression waged in Iraq, or because they torture.

[prolesunited]

45. My father who fought in WWII

thanks you for your compassion.

[laylah]

46. ...

:spank: anal opening!

[create.peace]

82. you are full of it.....raygun wasn't a boomer, and it was boomers' parents who loved him. nt

[old mark]

13. I am a sharp edge boomer - 1947 - and I never voted for a Republican, either.

I can't help it that the majority of my contemporaries are fucking stupid - they always were, and I expect nothing different from you young people.
I retired at 59.

mark

[Hepburn]

16. born 1948....

...and I would crawl two miles on broken glass before I voted for a fucking Republican.

:hi:

[MercutioATC]

15. Increases are based on the CPI. The CPI is currently flat.

This is nothing new, it's been this way for a long time.

Nobody is saying "fuck you" to seniors. They get increases when the CPI increases and it's not increasing.


It's that simple.

[Individualist]

20. CPI is a damn joke.

The cost of necessities has gone up. Insurance premiums have gone up this year, utilities have gone up and are increasing, groceries are continuing to increase in price, and prescription drugs are continuing to increase. Where do you suggest seniors make cuts in the above as prices continue rising and their Social Security income doesn't keep up?

[MercutioATC]

22. I'd suggest that they not count on SS being a retirement plan...

...but that advice is about 20 years too late.


You might not like the CPI, but it's been the benchmark for COLAs for quite a while. Nobody is screwing anybody here, the 0% increase is simply a function of the formula used to compute SS increases.


...and SS recipients have the advantage of never seeing their benefits decrease even if the CPI turns negative.

[Individualist]

29. More BS

Do you have any idea how many people with low income jobs have lived paycheck to paycheck their entire working lives? If not, come to Appalachia for a reality check. (Needless to say, Appalachia is not the only place this is happening.) Where were they supposed to get money to put aside for retirement?

Any benchmark for COLAs which omits NECESSITIES is screwing retirees. As for SS recipients not having benefits decrease, tell that to people who are having to reduce prescription dosages and limit their grocery shopping.

But you've got yours, corporations get bailed out, and rah,rah DLC!

[dgibby]

39. Don't waste your time and energy trying to reason with this one.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5588013

Obviously his mind is made up.

[Individualist]

52. Good advice

His/her "let them eat cake" attitude and dodging the fact of the ever increasing cost of necessities do get old quickly.

[MercutioATC]

50. Again, SS IS NOT A RETIREMENT PLAN.

It's a safety net, nothing more.

If you don't like the CPI-W, what would you suggest SS COLAs be indexed to?

It's true that the CPI-W is weighted more toward younger people, but it also provides the largest sampling group...and, therefore, the lowest margin of deviation.

[BeFree]

33. So says a government retiree

Have you no empathy while you reap what taxpayers have sown?

[MercutioATC]

51. Actually, I'm still working.

I'm not a government retiree.

[csziggy]

64. Many were not relying on SS for retirement - but their IRAs, savings and investments were gutted

With the stock market bust. So now what do they do?

[patrice]

71. Not necessarily the problem. Many of us WEREN'T counting on SS for retirement and got SCREWED anyway

[BeFree]

21. The current Bushco CPI

Is an accounting magic that doesn't factor in many real world costs, like gas, insurance and housing. Try again.

[MercutioATC]

24. Gas and housing are down.

True, they're not included in the CPI...but those are two major expenses that have actually decreased greatly.

That kinda works against the point you're trying to make...

[BeFree]

25. No

If the CPI was accurate it would have gone up at least 25% in the last few years and headed back down about 10% this year. Try again.

[MercutioATC]

27. Again, disagree with the CPI all you want.

That doesn't change the fact that nobody is "saying "fuck you" to seniors". The 0% increase is simply due to the CPI being flat.

[mnhtnbb]

26. Bushco redefined CPI for their own purposes--one of which we are now seeing.

Screw seniors, but gimme' my tax break on my millions of dollars cuz I'm a producer!

[Jim Lane]

48. Do you have a citation for the Bushco change?

I thought that the CPI adjustment formula currently in use predated the Bush administration.

Of course, no formula is perfect. The formula is based on one hypothetical "market basket" of goods, but retirees differ in their actual expenditure patterns. If an outbreak of mad cow disease causes the price of beef to shoot up, that will be reflected in the CPI and the vegetarians will get a windfall. Nevertheless, using one CPI for everybody seems like a necessary simplification.

[mnhtnbb]

54. There are several formulas, with components weighted differently

The C-CPI-U was introduced during the second Bush Administration as an alternate CPI measure. Unlike the theoretical approximation of geometric weighting to a variable, substitution-prone market basket, the C-CPI-U is a direct measure of the substitution effect. The difference in reporting is that August 2006 year-to-year inflation rates for the CPI-U and the C-CPI-U were 3.8% and 3.4%, respectively. Hence current inflation still has a 0.4% notch to be taken out of it through methodological manipulation. The C-CPI-U would not have been introduced unless there were plans to replace the current series, eventually.



And also different measures are used for different adjustments:

There now are three major CPI measures published by the BLS, CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) and the Chained CPI-U (C-CPI-U). The CPI-U is the popularly followed inflation measure reported in the financial media. It was introduced in 1978 as a more-broadly-based version of the then existing CPI, which was renamed CPI-W. The CPI-W is used in calculating Social Security benefits.


Above from this citation:

http://www.shadowstats.com/article/consumer_price_index

[Jim Lane]

60. Then your link disproves your charge.

You write, "The C-CPI-U was introduced during the second Bush Administration as an alternate CPI measure." But Bushco's introduction of a new measure wouldn't affect any retiree's benefits unless the new measure were employed for Social Security COLA purposes. According to your link, however, the older measure, the CPI-W, was in existence as of 1978, and it's the CPI-W that's used in calculating Social Security benefits.

The news story doesn't say that any change in Social Security rules has been implemented or is even contemplated. It simply reports a projection that inflation (presumably as measured by the old CPI-W) will be zero, so that the COLA will be zero.

[mnhtnbb]

69. My charge is that Bushco redefined CPI for their own purposes

and the link supports that claim.

Here's another link: Greenspan was trying to convince Congress to change which CPI measure was used

http://opencrs.com/document/RL32293/2008-02-21

Being able to significantly reduce Social Security payments would have made the Bushies semi-orgasmic.
Anytime they could screw the little guy while giving tax breaks to the oligarchs, they were happy.

[Jim Lane]

81. I agree with you there, but not that we're now seeing an effect on Social Security

No question the Bushies would like to screw the poor and the middle class, but the projected absence of COLA increases doesn't stem from any change in Social Security effected by Bush.

You wrote, "Bushco redefined CPI for their own purposes--one of which we are now seeing." I agree with the first point but disagree with the second.

One question worth asking is whether we should now seek to redefine CPI for our own purposes. Perhaps some other measure would more accurately reflect retirees' typical expenses, and would provide them with an increase through COLA if the general CPI didn't go up.

[Bluenorthwest]

32. And so the same folks who did not see the train wreck coming

even the week before it happened, are now able to boldly declare that prices will not rise at all during the next 18 months? How is it that they can predict that, but they had zero idea at all that the economy was about to tank, even while it was tanking?
Aside from the Social Security aspects, this is a declaration that there is no possiblitiy of price increases for the next two years. Bad news for Seniors and Diabled people, but worse news for those of you who are 'homeowners'. Prices are staying flat or going down, they say. They promise, even.

So next time they claim to fear inflation, we can point out they already said there would not be any.

[tkmorris]

65. The CPI is a work of fiction

[rhett o rick]

17. Well someone has to tighten their belts and it sure the hell aint gona be the bankers.

:sarcasm: if needed

[progressoid]

18. "especially baby boomers"??

Why especially baby boomers?

Explain how "especially baby boomers" doesn't sound incredibly selfish.

[Hello_Kitty]

23. No shit. I'm a Gen Xer and my 401k is gone because I had to cash it out and live on it

I was unemployed for a year and unemployment benefits in my state are a joke (and take forever to get after you've lost your job).

[Stinky The Clown]

30. "Especially" only because they're closer to retirement - or in in already.

Don't screw yourself by making this a generational war, sonny.

The war is between the haves and the have nots.

[Bluenorthwest]

35. Because they are probably closer to retirement

but the fact is that a 30 year old could be in an accident today, and retire ahead of older people. Social Security, 2/3 elderly,1/3 disabled.
But the young never have accidents. We all know that.

[progressoid]

41. By putting "boomers" in the OP you made in a generational war, sonny

If you didn't want it to be generational, you should have included all Social Security recipients; current and potential.

Of course, my wife and I have already determined we won't be able to retire anyway. We can't rely on SS and virtually all of our retirement savings are wiped out. Hope you enjoy yours.

[Stinky The Clown]

56. Why the need to be a fucking snarky smart ass?

Boomers and retirees are most directly affected by this cuz they are or VERY soon will be needing all they can get.

Why do you feel the need to get shitty with me, Sonnyboy? In case you haven't notice, we're probably on the same side. Unless oyu have a hard on for boomers.

In which case, bite my boomer ass.

[progressoid]

63. Snarky? Because I used the term "sonny"?

Sorry, I was just returning the compliment you gave me.

"In case you haven't notice, we're probably on the same side"

I think we are on the same side. Which is why I wondered why you emphasized baby boomers in your post. I thought that this would affect everybody: My parents, my disabled friend, etc. But if affects boomers more than the rest of us, that would be nice to know. If not, why emphasize it?

Part of the reason that there are snarky smart ass comments in this thread about boomers is because you singled them out. I was (in my snarky smart ass way) trying to include the rest of us who are or will be soon beneficiaries of the Social Security system as well.

[Silver Swan]

31. I am a retired person

And my income for 2008 was nearly ten percent lower than my 2007 income because it was decided decided that banks needed cheap money.

When I was younger, bank interest rates were high, and all forecasting assumed at least an eight percent annual return. In the last ten years, it's been a struggle to even get five percent. Now most CD rates are under two percent.

Because I depend on interest income for part of my support, if I could get eight percent interest now, I wouldn't mind the lack of a COLA for a couple of years. As it is, the low interest rates and lack of a COLA are a double whammy.

[bushmeister0]

34. Speaking of COLAs, congress has one, too. But theirs is better.

USA Today (1/9/08):

"Congress members in 2008 will receive salaries of $169,300, a boost of $4,100 over the salary they have had since January 2006.

Last year was the first since 1999, when the pay was $136,700, that members of Congress did not receive a cost-of-living allowance raise along with other federal employees.

The congressional COLA is linked, under a complicated formula, to the cost-of-living increase awarded civil servants. As part of a 1989 ethics bill, Congress gave up its ability to accept pay for speeches and made annual cost-of-living pay increases automatic unless lawmakers voted otherwise."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-09-Raise-me_N.htm

Something tells me they won't be voting otherwise any time soon. You know they're hurting, right?

[rucky]

44. Ours would be a Cost of LIVING Adjustment...

Theirs is a Cost of LIFESTYLE Adjustment.

big difference there.

[bushmeister0]

57. Precisely!

[WI_DEM]

43. My guess is that they will, seniors are a strong voting block and '10 is an election year, they will

get a cost of living increase I'm sure.

[TWiley]

58. Hey stinky ..... ever hear of DEFLATION? No COLA because of it.

[omega minimo]

59. Baby Boomers double PAID Social Security in the 1980's

[graywarrior]

62. Time for the Gray Panthers to reform

I shall lead them....onward ye soldiers with walkers and canes! Pillage the village! ! ! !

[patrice]

72. !!! Yeah, pay taxes or we'll gum you to death!!!

:rofl:

[graywarrior]

73. And fart in front of you while walking at the mall.

[patrice]

75. Or leave our Turn Signals on forever while we wander around trying to figure out where we are and

where we're going.

[graywarrior]

76. And don't forget the food carriage meetings in the middle of supermarket aisles

and Early Bird Special Parking Lot Accidents AND AND AND driving down route 75 in Florida going the wrong way or backing into someones pool at 55 miles per hour

[patrice]

77. & refuse to use a hearing aide or email & stand in the lap lane at the swimming pool & make entries

& calculate balances in our check registries after writing a paper check in the checkout line at store & sing off-key at church & let our grass grow too tall & let our dogs poop in your yard & paint our houses white & . . . .

[graywarrior]

78. and wear black socks with sandals

and call customer service and forget why you called...oh yeah to bitch about the phone service to the electric company. Oh and return that dress you bought at Bealls after you wore to the seniors dance last night with the price tags tucked (not well) into your sleeve.

[patrice]

79. Ah . . . . the privileges of Age! I'm looking forward to it!!

:hi:

[patrice]

74. ALL of us did this. Even Gen-Xers should think of how they wasted the opportunities

they had to grow and develop in ways unknown to previous generations and even with all of that "enrichment" they didn't pioneer any solutions to the mistakes and downright evil of the Boomers and other previous generations.

It is NOT possible for anyone to be here and also be separate from how we got here.