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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (211200)	12/10/2012 8:12:05 PM
From: cosmicforce	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541887

RE: [the government set's] up a self fulfilling prophecy when [they] renege People want to have different discussions about SS and Medicare. Having already had the government renege on my life-time health care ( part of my enlistment back in the volunteer Navy of the 70's) - I feel the pain. Fortunately, in my current station I don't need it - I'm actually covered under my wife's plan and will decline coverage at the new start-up company because of the idiotic "birthday rule" (whichever covered person's birthday comes first dictates whose insurance covers the dependents). So my situation is the microcosm of the macrocosm but only partially. It is the "mutated broccoli of healthcare rules" as it were. One day, hopefully not, my situation may change. We have stacked law-upon-law-upon-law and created a horrible mosaic of plans and rules when we should have bit the bullet and adopted a single payer plan health care. Our "welfare-cum-retirement plan" (SS) for those who failed to plan independently of the government or met with an untimely end to their career due to disability is broken. I think my wife is right - people should work if they can, even if it means retraining. Why not? No one gets a free ride unless they paid for it and then, it really isn't FREE That is capitalism within a social democracy framework. Someone on this thread told me that SS was part of a generational wealth transfer. I'm still scratching my head saying "What the hell is that and why should we do that?" SS is structured as a pyramid scheme; having a shrinking base of youth with lower earning opportunity all but mandates that we will have to have a means test. I'm already dealing with the pain of paying for health care that was reneged upon - what makes me really mad though, is the utter dishonesty of people claiming there won't be a means test. Of course there will and if not, there SHOULD BE. Okay - I'll eat it with my vet status, but so should some guy who has $800k in his 401k, but didn't serve in the military yet is planning to use SS to finance his travels across the US in a Winnebago. THAT is not something I support. Neither do I condone his medical paid at the same rate as a roofer who has been disabled at 55 and has zero in the bank.