President Obama is going to announce his deficit ideas today during the mid-day, not during prime time. I wonder if he will talk about what no politician and virtually no political outlet was willing to talk about. The Ryan plan would have provided an even richer Medicare program for those 55 and over, Generation Greed, funded by 30 more years of rising debts. And paid for those debts with far more drastic reductions in benefits for future generations than would otherwise be the case. The Democratic and Republican politicians immediately yelled “tax the rich,” “choice and efficiency,” private vs. public, because they would rather talk about that. Than have the mostly 55 and over politicians talk about what they all agree on.
The President is from the second half of the baby boom, the first of a long line of generations (aside from the rich and retired public employees) to be worse off than the one before. He was elected primarily with the support of the young, whereas the Republican majority in the house was swept in by seniors angry about the limitations on growth of Medicare spending under health care reform. Is it too much to ask the holder of our highest office to take a moral stand, that what we can afford for those 55 and over today and what we can afford for my children 50 years from now are one and the same?
I’ll say it again — the whole “big government small government” debate is a scam. The majority of Republican voters would want far more government services and benefits if “small government” meant less for them and not less for the poor, or future generations. And the majority of Democratic voters would accept far less if it meant higher taxes for them and not just on the rich or future generations.
The real story, not just for federal taxes and the real federal issues — Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, interest on the debt, taxes and to a lesser extent defense — but also in state and local pensions, infrastructure, energy and the environment — is the predatory history of “what about my needs” Generation Greed. It will never stop until it is too late, if it isn’t already too late, unless someone calls them out.
This is the moment President Obama. I think a moral appeal to the non-Greedy members of Generation Greedy, and a warning to those younger, is good politics too.