So, What You're Saying Is, That Generation X Was Right All Along?

This'll be political, but bear with me.

See, Social Security has been sucking money out of my paycheck since I was 16. Lots of money. My employers have had to match that amount. Over time, it adds up. Supposedly enough to supplement my retirement (like youth ministers get to retire, but since we're in the hypothetical, go with me on that).

Politicians have goofed it up by spending the money in other places. There's not an Al Gore "lock box" like there was supposed to be...and used to be.

Social Security is headed for disaster because, since there's no "lock box" the money that people pay in currently simply flows right out into the pockets of people who spent the money that was supposed to be in the "lock box." It's fine for now as there's enough people paying into the system to keep it solvent.

But anyone can see that it'll cause problems around 2018 when more people will be taking money out than there will be people putting into it. That's 13 years if you're doing the math. Us GenXers have been talking about this train coming down the tracks for years...we've long talked about Baby Boomer retirees who took all the good jobs, got their benefits packages and then stripped our generation of those same things. They're throwing a party and asking us to clean up after it.

I say this because the Dallas Morning News had an excellent editorial on this yesterday (I won't link to it because you're more likely to keep reading, as well as they require a sign in to get archives) entitled "Rescuing Social Security."

Here's the gist of it:

"The raging debate over whether and/or how to fix Social Security has produced much noise, but little else. Frankly, it's hard to hear what anyone is saying amid allthe accusations and counter-accusations.

Well, hear this: Social Security faces a huge shortfall, and the nation's most beloved entitlement program can't go on much longer unless it's shored up. In 2018, Social Security is projected to officially go into debt, meaning that for that year and every year thereafter the government will pay out more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes...

...The big divide this time is less political than generational--although politics, as always, plays a signficant role. The president's plan would allow Americans to invest part of their Social Security contribution in personal accounts. How you feel about this has a lot to do with whether you grew up listening to Benny Goodman, Elvis Presley or Eminem...

(the article talks about how president Bush is being attacked on this plan along generational lines)

...Young people deserve a voic, perhaps never more than in this debate. It will be on their watch that Social Security goes into the red, and theyare the ones who will be taxed into oblivion to rescue it. It's disappointed that more politicians and pundits don't seem to care about that...

...President Bush shouldn't be on the defensive. Defenders of the status quo should be."

The Baby Boomers want to know why we disengage from the political process?

We never had a voice. We never had the numbers so we were ignored. We never had representation. It was a quiet tyranny. So, we just went about our business.

And, now, our president is pointing it out and the generation that caused it all is leaving it to someone else to clean it up. They don't like it. So they attack him on this issue (when there are so many others that they could have fun with).

So, lemme get this straight: The so-called "Greatest Generation" raised children who are the most self-centered in American history (politically and socially) who continue to be so in their old age by "defending the status quo," and GenX, who's been pointing this out since we're old enough to vote have a president addressing our concerns and he gets attacked?

Open memo to the Baby Boomers: Those grandchildren you're holding...think of how much tax they're going to have to pay because of your decisions. Then vote accordingly. Please.