Sunday, February 15, 2009

So Do You Remember How Everybody Was SURE Obama Would NEVER Go After Social Security? Wrong!

They keep saying they're not gonna do it, but I believe they're gonna fuck us! They'll juice it all up, with crises and shit, but the end will be the same: Robbery!

Figger that might have been before the 'dimensions' of the 'current crisis' were known.

Meaning, in Woody-speak: Fuggedaboddit! Yer fucked. All dat shit's sooo 2008.

I am not alone in believing so (though I have long felt alone, predicting, warning it was coming, official, and well-meaning protestations by the "faithful" to the contrary notwithstanding). Dean Baker, one economist who (along with Krugman) has gotten it right, sez "Don't drop your soap."
Word has it that President Obama intends to appoint a task force the week after next which will be charged with “reforming” Social Security. According to inside gossip, the task force will be led entirely by economists who were not able to see the $8 trillion housing bubble, the collapse of which is giving the country its sharpest downturn since the Great Depression.
(Step 1: Drop Trou. Ed)
This effort is bizarre for several reasons. First, the economy is sinking rapidly. While President Obama’s stimulus package is a good first step towards counteracting the decline, there is probably not a single economist in the country who believes that is adequate to the task. President Obama would be advised to focus his attention on getting the economy back in order instead of attacking the country’s most important social program.
(Step 2: Apply lube. Ed.)
The second reason why this task force is strange is that Social Security doesn’t need reforming. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it can pay all scheduled benefits for the next 40 years with no changes whatsoever.

The third reason that this effort is pernicious is that this talk of reform is occurring with the baby boomers just as the cusp of retirement. Due to the reckless policies of the Rubin-Greenspan-Bush clique, this cohort has just seen their housing equity wiped out with the collapse of the housing bubble. Tens of millions of baby boomers who might have felt reasonably secure three years ago are now approaching retirement with little or no equity in their homes.
(Step 3: Spread Cheeks. Ed)
Similarly, if they had been fortunate enough to accumulate any substantial amount of savings in a 401(k) account, they just saw much of this wealth vanish with the plunge in the stock market. The median late baby boomer household (ages 45-54) has a net worth of just over $80 including the equity in their home. This means that if they took all of their savings, they would have less than half of their home (assuming a median price $175,000) paid off, and nothing else.

The median household among older baby boomers would be doing a bit better. With a net worth of $143,000, this household could have most of their home paid off, but nothing else. And of course, half of the population has wealth less than the median, so they would be less well-prepared for retirement.
(Step 4: Take It In The Ass, Fools! Ed.)
In short, the vast majority of baby boomers will be approaching retirement with little other than their Social Security and Medicare to support them. And now President Obama is apparently prepared to appoint a commission that will attack these only remaining pillars of support.
(Step 5: Pretend You LOVE It, dumbass. Ed>)

The irony, of course, is that it has been we "boomers" who have kept the system afloat for the last 50 years. And the Obamanauts are gonna use the 'crisis' as the excuse they've been waiting for to fuck us. Gay-ron-fucking-TEED, chers...

In short, if you believed that Obama bullshit, you probably deserve what's coming.

Assume the position, morons!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Inasmuch as I enjoy assuming that particular position now and then, I would never do so for Faux-Bama.

Awesome post!