Boomers’ “Entitled Selfishness”?

From the KFF Daily Reports:

If lawmakers were “serious” about “pledges of ‘fiscalresponsibility'” they would propose cuts in Social Security andMedicare, Washington Post columnistRobert Samuelson writes in an opinion piece. According to Samuelson,”Preserving present retirement benefits automatically imposes hugecosts on the young,” and the “tax increases required by 2030 could hit50% if other spending is maintained as a share of national income.”Samuelson writes that retirees “have adopted a policy of selfishsilence” with regard to government-sponsored retirement benefits. Headds, “Baby boomers seem eager to ‘reinvent retirement’ in all waysexcept those that might threaten their pocketbooks.” Samuelson suggeststhat in addition to reducing benefits, raising taxes and cuttingspending, “much of the adjustment should come from increasingeligibility ages (ultimately to 70) and curbing payments to wealthierretirees.” He writes, “Pundits usually speak in bland generalities”about Social Security and Medicare. “They support ‘fiscalresponsibility’ and ‘entitlement reform’ and oppose big budgetdeficits,” but less “often do they say plainly that people need to worklonger and that retirees need to lose some benefits,” Samuelson says.Samuelson predicts that “this Congress will do nothing” to addressSocial Security and Medicare, “just as previous Congresses have donenothing” (Samuelson, Washington Post, 1/10)

Forwarded by my student, Andrea Palumbo.