Beaten into Submission

Utah's newest Senator has a way to fix the deficit, save social security, and not make the richest one percent of Americans pay more in taxes. Yep, instead of taking from the rich to help the poor (that is really so un-Ayn Rand) he wants to make the poor work longer, and get less when they retire. He is absolutely sure it will work. Why? Because the younger generations don't expect that much from their government.

You think I'm kidding, don't you? I'm not.

Senator Mike Lee had joined with two other Tea Party "activists" to put forward a plan that would raise the retirement age to 70, and reduce the benefits anyone would receive once they reached that age. Now, to his credit, the people who make the most would receive a lot less than those who make the least, but he admits that's because those who make the most probably won't need social security anyway, and will be able to retire long before 70.

So, that shouldn't be so bad, right? I mean, 40 is the new 15, and everyone lives to at least 90 now! Oh, yeah, except the poor. The people who will have to work the longest will live the shortest after they retire. In fact, as their social security benefits have decreased over the past three decades -- so have their life spans.

Wait! Dead people don't need social security! Ca-ching!

Of course, not everyone will die, that would make things too easy. Luckily, the people this plan really sticks it to is the middle class. You know, the people who might make more than 43-thousand dollars a year for at least one year in their working career. Those people will still be paying the highest percentage of their income to social security, and seeing the lowest returns for those payments.

I guess I could consider this Senator Lee's plan to spur me to make more. After all, if I do that, I won't have to worry about this silly "social security" nonsense.

Or I could just expect less. After all, it's what all the cool young kids are doing. And it is MUCH easier than expecting my government to work for me...