dwccrew;660196 wrote:No, I DO understand exactly what you are saying about an "overpopulation bubble". And if you read my entire posts, I place blame on every generation since SS was enacted, not just the Boomers. My beef with Boomers right now is that they are the ones with most of the power right now and they continue to spend, spend, spend.

I get that the Boomer generation is the largest ever in American history, but I'm not sure they saw this happening in the 50's as you state. How could they predict in the 1950's, when members of the Boomer generation were not even born yet, the generation would be overpopulated? They couldn't predict lower birth rates in the future, especially since the birth rates had increased from one generation to the next. At least I wouldn't think that they could.

Obviously I meant the latter 50's....when the bubble numbers were final. Secondly, when I was in my twenties, "my generation" spoke about us never seeing a dime of social security....same as you.

As for the spending.....nothing has changed over the past 35 years....and it will never change. We now have a GOP House and Senate. Don't hold your breath on any spending reforms.

Footwedge;660291 wrote:Obviously I meant the latter 50's....when the bubble numbers were final. Secondly, when I was in my twenties, "my generation" spoke about us never seeing a dime of social security....same as you.

As for the spending.....nothing has changed over the past 35 years....and it will never change. We now have a GOP House and Senate. Don't hold your breath on any spending reforms.

FW, for once we agree.

believer;660231 wrote:And I have a hunch that when they pass the political torch on to the long suffering Gen X and Y-ers the spending will continue.

Sadly, I believe this to be true as well. Once people are given a taste of power and have other people's money to spend, they take advantage. I truly hope my generation never forgets this piss poor economy and once we're in majority power make drastic changes.

Footwedge;660291 wrote:Obviously I meant the latter 50's....when the bubble numbers were final. Secondly, when I was in my twenties, "my generation" spoke about us never seeing a dime of social security....same as you.

As for the spending.....nothing has changed over the past 35 years....and it will never change. We now have a GOP House and Senate. Don't hold your breath on any spending reforms.

Didn't the Boomer generation technically end in '64? I am not saying you are wrong, I just don't understand how they could predict such a thing with so much accuracy when many other predictions have been off or changed since then.


According to the census bureau it is 1946-1964. Anyone born in that time frame is a Boomer, but perhaps they were making those predictions earlier. I don't know since I wasn't around until nearly 30 yrs. later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer

And so the generational game of hot potato just continues.

dwccrew;660459 wrote:Sadly, I believe this to be true as well. Once people are given a taste of power and have other people's money to spend, they take advantage. I truly hope my generation never forgets this piss poor economy and once we're in majority power make drastic changes.

I hope you're right but keep in mind that when your generation takes the reigns there will still be plenty of Boomers in retirement communities being bused to the polls. lol

believer;660493 wrote:I hope you're right but keep in mind that when your generation takes the reigns there will still be plenty of Boomers in retirement communities being bused to the polls. lol

I'm campaigning for mass parenticide if they vote in such a way to dick us over further at that point.

Hey, if we're gonna get dicked for being born when we are, you will too.

O-Trap;660500 wrote:I'm campaigning for mass parenticide if they vote in such a way to dick us over further at that point.

Hey, if we're gonna get dicked for being born when we are, you will too.

Only as long as your generation agrees to abolish abortion to compensate for the parenticide. lol

believer;660505 wrote:Only as long as your generation agrees to abolish abortion to compensate for the parenticide. lol

Deal.

believer;660505 wrote:Only as long as your generation agrees to abolish abortion to compensate for the parenticide. lol

O-Trap;660506 wrote:Deal.

I'm liking where this is going haha!

CenterBHSFan;660956 wrote:I'm liking where this is going haha!

Me too. Gives us the chance to pass the potato and dick over the next generation.

I keed! I keed!

O-Trap;660962 wrote:Me too. Gives us the chance to pass the potato and dick over the next generation.

It's the American way.

Manhattan Buckeye;659579 wrote:"1. I was forced by federal mandate to participate in the "ponzi scheme."

Yet you had voting power, something younger people didn't have.

"I have only pointed out that America has faced tougher challenges "

And my point is, to the extent we disagree, is that this argument is irrelevant. Shit happens. We had 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the gulf oil spill, etc. All generations have challenges, but this one is unique in that it is purely domestic, a government enforced ponzi scheme where older generations are screwing over younger generations.

I can't say it any better than O-Trap did: "However, up until now, each generation has received some kind of return on their sacrifice. Eventually, a generation is going to sacrifice early AND be screwed later. I understand that you wouldn't want that to be you. We don't want it to be us, either"

This is 1,000,000% correct. If you want yours, you are screwing your children and grandchildren. It isn't political, it is simply the way it is.

Exactly, exactly, exactly. Boomers voted themselves handout after handout, kicking the can down to the next generation. Now, after running up unsustainable amounts of debt, tough choices need to be made.

The only relevant question, in my mind, is who should bear the brunt of those: the people who voted for them and enjoyed their benefits for a generation? Or the people who weren't even alive to advocate for themselves at that point?

Why should we have to pay for your inability to balance a budget? Why should we have to foot the bill for your inane self-largesse?

O-Trap;660500 wrote:I'm campaigning for mass parenticide if they vote in such a way to dick us over further at that point.

Hey, if we're gonna get dicked for being born when we are, you will too.

Bring back the death panels, right?

fan_from_texas;660989 wrote:Bring back the death panels, right?

They never left.

fan_from_texas;660987 wrote:Why should we have to pay for your inability to balance a budget? Why should we have to foot the bill for your inane self-largesse?

When I was in my 20's I remember having similar arguments with my dad and his buddies. That was 30 years ago. When you X & Y-ers hit 50-something and the next "you did this to us" generation of whiners wag their arrogant holier-than-thou fingers in your faces I'll just smile knowingly from my rocking chair and cash my next bogus Social Security check.

believer;661659 wrote:When I was in my 20's I remember having similar arguments with my dad and his buddies. That was 30 years ago. When you X & Y-ers hit 50-something and the next "you did this to us" generation of whiners wag their arrogant holier-than-thou fingers in your faces I'll just smile knowingly from my rocking chair and cash my next bogus Social Security check.

You were right to have that argument with your dad. Just because each generation thus far has continued to perpetuate our economic clusterfuck doesn't mean that it's okay, and that it will always be okay.

Just a quick question to the boomers: How far in debt was our country "back in the day"?

CenterBHSFan;661753 wrote:Just a quick question to the boomers: How far in debt was our country "back in the day"?

In 1970, the debt to GDP ratio was approx. 35%. Now, we're over 94%, so almost 2.7 times as much on an apples-to-apples basis.

Believer, the difference between your parents generation and yours is that while your parents increased their spending, they built a strong enough economy to handle the increased spending. For whatever reason, Boomers appear unique in American history to massively expand their own handouts while simultaneously dropping the ball on innovation/productivity such that the GDP hasn't grown fast enough to carry the debt.

The amount of debt is unsustainable. There will need to be significant cuts to defense spending and entitlement spending, period. There is no way around this.

CenterBHSFan;661753 wrote:Just a quick question to the boomers: How far in debt was our country "back in the day"?

I thought you WERE a boomer.

Whether it's Social Security, Medicare, Welfare, the Military....it doesn't matter. They are all bloated in order the keep the masses employed.

Until rules are placed penalizing the outsourcing of American wealth, the only end game is either mass unemployment or country bankruptcy. Politicians with 3rd grade math skills understand this....

Footwedge;661885 wrote:Whether it's Social Security, Medicare, Welfare, the Military....it doesn't matter. They are all bloated in order the keep the masses employed.

Until rules are placed penalizing the outsourcing of American wealth, the only end game is either mass unemployment or country bankruptcy. Politicians with 3rd grade math skills understand this....

You think there are politicians with math skills?

O-Trap;662100 wrote:You think there are politicians with math skills?

Well, it's clear they know how to add......especially to the nation's debt.

Footwedge;661878 wrote:I thought you WERE a boomer.

Nope, Footie. I'm a Gen-X'er.

fan_from_texas;661794 wrote:Believer, the difference between your parents generation and yours is that while your parents increased their spending, they built a strong enough economy to handle the increased spending.

They also had the unique benefit of an intact American economic infrastructure from which to grow the spending compared to the ravages that WWII had on the European and Asian economies. A few short decades later....

fan_from_texas;661794 wrote:For whatever reason, Boomers appear unique in American history to massively expand their own handouts while simultaneously dropping the ball on innovation/productivity such that the GDP hasn't grown fast enough to carry the debt.

I can't argue with the massively expanded handouts. But to say the Boomers dropped the ball on innovation/productivity is a bit of a stretch. The United States still outpaces the world in productivity and efficiency because the technologies we've invented and implemented have helped make it so. It's more productive and efficient because the same things can be done now with fewer employees. And since we've helped rebuild the Asian economies and because Big Labor has priced itself out of competitiveness, American companies have increased their margins by capitalizing on the inexpensive labor found in those emerging economies. Yes it's a double-edged sword but it's also capitalism at its finest...and its worst. And it's NOT a GDP thing, it's a SPENDING thing. When the clowns in DC (Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y-ers alike) get a handle on that, the GDP will take care of the rest.

fan_from_texas;661794 wrote:The amount of debt is unsustainable. There will need to be significant cuts to defense spending and entitlement spending, period. There is no way around this.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. You can thump your chest and tell tens of millions of Boomers that their federally mandated contributions for the past few decades to SS must be sacrificed for the greater good all you want. But draconian cuts to those entitlements will only manifest itself as an even larger economic albatross if and when that occurs. Maybe O-trap was on to something with the parenticide idea.

Regarding defense cuts, I'm sure you wise and benevolent Gen X and Y-ers will surely figure out a way to disconnect the political purse strings tying DC politicians and bureaucrats to the bloated military industrial complex...and still find a way to defend our American way of life. When you do, I'll be the first veteran to stand at attention and salute your sacrificial brilliance.