Once again, as I read through this section of his plan, I am struck by how well he uses words that mean very little or that aren't properly defined. He makes reference to people being able to "live comfortably." What does this mean? Poorly defined words or phrases always lead to misunderstandings later, but this "Plan for America" that Barack Obama has written is full of these words or phrases. His plan would more appropriately be called the "Everyone is a victim in America Plan and how Barack Obama and government will enact revenge against those shifty business folks" plan. After reading this section of the plan, you might think that most Americans are too stupid to make decisions on mortgage, health insurance, jobs, or their life without the help of a benevolent government. The truth might be closer to the position that it is difficult for people to make good decisions because the government has rigged the system in its favor and points the blame elsewhere when things go wrong. So let's see how Barack will help seniors in their quest for economic security and the ability to "live comfortably."
WHAT OBAMA SAYS: Obama is committed to ensuring Social Security is solvent and viable for the American people, now and in the future. Obama will be honest with the American people about the long-term solvency of Social Security and the ways we can address the shortfall. Obama will protect Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries alike. And he does not believe it is necessary or fair to hardworking seniors to raise the retirement age. Obama is strongly opposed to privatizing Social Security.
Obama believes that the first place to look for ways to strengthen Social Security is the payroll tax system. Currently, the Social Security payroll tax applies to only the first $97,500 a worker makes. Obama supports increasing the maximum amount of earnings covered by Social Security and he will work with Congress and the American people to choose a payroll tax reform package that will keep Social Security solvent for at least the next half century.
WHAT IT MEANS: If Barack wants to be honest with the American people, why doesn't he just tell the American people that the social security system surplus of $2 trillion has already been spent by the American government? What you have in the surplus is not cold hard cash, but treasury bonds or IOUs. This will be a problem in a few years when the payments going out to seniors are greater than the revenues coming in from the social security tax of 12.4% (6.2% from you and 6.2% from your employer). The government has seriously mismanaged the surplus, so why should we trust the government for our economic security? To solve the impending social security insolvency, Barack proposes raising taxes on every American who makes more than $97,500. Does he consider a person who makes $97,500 to be rich and able to afford another 12.4% of his income above $97,500? The truth is that the government lied and spent the social security surplus. They were and are bad stewards of the taxpayer's money and a solution that allows them to tax more is no solution at all. It's not change. It's more of the same.
WHAT OBAMA SAYS: Obama is committed to the long-term strength of the Medicare program.
WHAT IT MEANS: Medicare and Medicaid are the fastest growing government programs in terms of expenditures within the federal government. The problem with these programs is that they minimize the personal responsibility of individuals for their own health, thus rewarding people for poor health decisions. This is an economic disaster in the making with costs spiraling out of control. Put simply, this program is designed more for winning votes than it is to solve health care.
As a younger American, I do not believe it is right for a senior citizen who has made poor health decisions throughout their life to expect me to subsidize their health care. I suspect that much of our health care costs are incurred by a small percentage of people who make extremely poor health choices, whether it be poor eating, excessive smoking and drinking, or lack of exercise. Visit any mall in America today and look at all the obese people. These people are making poor health decisions and expecting others to subsidize their choices. I suspect there is a strong link between obesity and the increasing involvement of the government in health care. Free health care encourages poor living, because people do not incur any personal costs for their poor choices. Someone else bears these costs. A long-term commitment to the strength of Medicare means more unhealthy people. If you give someone something for free without any costs or without any responsibility, they will abuse it. If Obama's plan for the long-term strength of Medicare involves only pouring more money into it, he fails to see the problem clearly.
WHAT OBAMA SAYS: Retired Americans have a wide range of skills and knowledge to contribute to local and national public service efforts. Obama will engage more interested seniors into public service opportunities by expanding and improving programs like Senior Corps to connect seniors with quality volunteer opportunities.
WHAT IT MEANS: This program means higher taxes to pay for the larger bureaucracy necessary to manage a bigger Senior Corps. A senior citizen does not need the government to find volunteer opportunities for them. A government that wants to control where the volunteer efforts are carried out wants a program like this. Obama's program is really about control. It will create or enlarge another government bureaucracy loyal to the politicians that support big government. This bureaucracy will consist of jobs that are not needed, thus diverting money and capital from more productive uses into wasteful government spending, making the people poorer for it.
In summary, Obama's plan for seniors entails more government intervention. The government has already mismanaged trillions of dollars of social security funds and is quickly losing control of medical expenditures. In light of these facts, Obama's only solution is to spend more. These programs account for over 40 percent of government spending. Obama states that people are not saving enough anymore, but fails to acknowledge the government's role in this problem. People cannot save because the government takes too much of their money and wastes it on programs such as his proposed Senior Corps. He also fails to acknowledge the great disincentive there is to save when a federal government is always inflating the money supply, for inflation is nothing more than a hidden tax. It makes no sense to save money in a savings account that pays at most 2 or 3 percent when the federal government creates inflation of 5 percent and above. Health care is broken because the federal government subsidizes so much of it. People are unhealthy because of the economic incentives to make poor health choices. Seniors who have made poor health choices should not be subsidized by other Americans. In a world with limited resources, seniors should not take more than their share. Barack's plan for seniors is not change. It is more government spending, which is more of the same.