Fifty Plus Advocates

Republicans in charge of the House are facing two unappealing options on the budget.
One is to lead with their chins and offer politically toxic cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and, perhaps, Social Security. Or, they could play it safe — but then endorse trillion-dollar deficits that would enrage their tea party backers.

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In the midst of the budget crisis, an old debate has broken out with new force: Should Social Security be seen as part of the deficit that Washington needs to rein in?

The White House is balking at calls to tackle Social Security’s financial problems now, before baby boomers swamp the system. But the massive retirement program, like the rest of the government, is running a deficit and has become part of the argument on Capitol Hill.

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ctor Mickey Rooney told Congress, March 2, that he was left powerless by a family member who took and misused his money.

“I felt trapped, scared, used and frustrated,” Rooney told a special Senate committee considering legislation to curb abuses of senior citizens. “But above all, when a man feels helpless, it’s terrible.”

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Chapter by chapter, Jackson takes on topics about which much ink has been spilled since the first boomer qualified for a senior discount. These include menopause (a nightmare) and the related topic of sex after menopause (try sex toys); diet and exercise (essential), and how they might stave off age-related disease (along with MRIs, EKGs and CT scans).

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The $20 billion represents what local governments would have to pay for lifetime health care benefits already earned by 150,000 current employees and retirees. The report said the figure was likely understated, because it assumes 5 percent annual growth in health care costs, when actual increases have exceeded 10 percent over the last decade in many communities.

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Speaking at a news conference a day after releasing his 2012 budget — a $3.73 trillion spending plan — Obama said the politically explosive changes in those programs cannot be solved through dictates from the White House. The White House budget proposal does not address reforms to the Social Security pension system, Medicare medical insurance for the elderly or the Medicare program for poor people. Social Security and Medicare are the two largest items in the U.S. budget.

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