Let me see if I understand this correctly:

1. The SSA made it a photo-op. True, this marks the first person in a wave of many millions claiming social security, which may well bankrupt our nation, and at the very least, render us weaker than before, as the young are forced to support more and more lazy, self-indulgent boomers. But, hey, at least they can bankrupt our country faster and easier thanks to the online filing system!

2. Note the aforementioned wave that will crush the collective backbone of what was once the greatest nation in the world. But is that what concerns the author of the article? Nope. More important is the fact that it will make them feel old. See lazy and self-indulgent.

sdf

I must endeavor to describe, good and true inhabitants of these United States of America and all her possessions, environs, and areas of controll, that your correspondent feels obligated, nay commanded, nay compelled in the extreme to, by use of my miniature electro-magnetic portable speaking contraption inform my good and true companion, confident, cajoler, co-conspiritor, and spouse, of our advancing to a closer proximity to the age promised by the hallowed voices of the distant and good and pure past, of three score and 10 orbits about the ether of yon fiery globe that dominates the daylight skies of our fair and true land.

I also, by sacred trust do hope aforementioned spouse and companion of good reputation and standing in the afore described community, will not be conducting a journey forth from said spouses place of gainful employment in said spouses internal combustion, self propelling, electro mechanical starting,
transporting device.

Have a gainful, useful, and profitable day.

Your Correspondent

A Day in the Life of RNC Bruce:

RNC Bruce gets up at 6:00 AM to prepare his morning coffee. He fills his pot with good, clean drinking water because some liberal fought for minimum water quality standards. He takes his daily medication with his first swallow of coffee. His medications are safe to take because some liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10.00 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan. Because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance, now Joe gets it, too. He prepares his morning breakfast -- bacon and eggs this day. RNC Bruce’s bacon is safe to eat because some liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat-packing industry.

RNC Bruce’s takes his morning shower, reaching for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with every ingredient and the amount that is contains because some liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and the breakdown of its contents.

RNC Bruce dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some tree-hugging liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks to the El station for his government-subsidized ride to work; it saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees. You see, some liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

RNC Bruce begins his work day; he has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. RNC Bruce's employer meets these standards because Terry's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union. If RNC Bruce is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed he'll get worker's compensation or an unemployment check because some liberal didn't think he should lose his home to temporary misfortune.

It's noon time. RNC Bruce needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. RNC Bruce's deposit is federally insured by the FDIC because some liberal wanted to protect RNC Bruce's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Depression. RNC Bruce has to pay his Fannie Mae underwritten mortgage and his below market federal student loan because some stupid liberal decided that RNC Bruce and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.

RNC Bruce is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive to dads; his car is among the safest in the world because some liberal fought for car safety standards. He arrives at his boyhood home. He was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electric until some big government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification (those rural Republicans would still be sitting in the dark).

RNC Bruce is happy to see his dad, who is now retired. RNC Bruce's dad lives on Social Security and his union pension because some liberal made sure he could take care of himself so RNC Bruce wouldn't have to. After his visit with dad, RNC Bruce gets back in his car for the ride home. He turns on a radio talk show. The host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't tell Joe that his beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. RNC Bruce agrees, "We don't need those big government liberals ruining our lives. After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

In the years to come, RNC Bruce's life will change dramatically. The U.S. dollar will be devalued as a result of our huge deficit, our living standards demolished, our standing with the world diminished and our social security gone...all because some conservative Republican made sure he could take care of himself and his buddies.

I wonder what Tyler is singing, "love on a respirator?" ♬

Zook,

Excellent post. My sides hurt.

I can picture Bruce and the other right wing Droogs banging away at their unfair and biased attack on you and your posts.

This will be hilarious.

Good for her! She paid into it, and she's entitled to the benefits.
The Gen X's and Gen Y's are demanding, and getting,
much better benefit packages than any baby boomer.

as the young are forced to support more and more lazy, self-indulgent boomers.
Posted by: James | October 15, 2007 5:40 PM

Spoken like one of the young that has sucked the life and wealth out of said parents ( boomers ) and now turns on them like a starved wolf. Might I remind you james that these
"lazy, self-indulgent boomers" are the ones that have paid into this fund over their entire life...a little more than the $2 dollars you have put in.

Alt Cap;

'Maybe I should get my people to do a living will and trust.???? Mmmmmm. I don't know. Can't trust 'the man'.'

Doug Zook...maybe the story will have a happy ending after all.

Clearly Doug Zook has been smoking the wacky tobacky lately. Dude, liberals and unions are not responsible because workers get health care. Liberals are not responsible for cleaner air (seems to me Richard Nixon created the EPA). Liberals are not responsible for our national park system (seems to me Teddy Roosevelt, another Republican, formed those. Liberals are not responsible for good banking practices. Liberals are not responsible for good pharmaceutical products.
You see, Doug, businesses do not like putting out faulty products that hurt their customer. It's bad for business.
In regard to Social Security, did you know FDR didn't intend for it to be a permanent program that grew and escalated? And, really, how well is Social Security doing? And isn't it pretty much common knowledge that if folks invested that money, they'd have more than do from Social Security?
Doug, there is a place for government in our lives, that is why government always has been around. But the role of government isn't to be our daddy, to take care of use cradle to grave, etc. That is where you go askew.

Posted by: Doug Zook | October 15, 2007 6:00 PM

Doug,
That was great, thanks for making me laugh.

Social Security is a poor mans 401k, and we paid into it.To put it back right, we have to fine the illegal immigrants every month for three years each, to put back the money that has been lost.Just pay fines thats all it will coast our govermnent.We are loosing the workforce of baby boomers and need the replacements. Done fairley, they caused the gape.Now we have to make it work for us, not against us, There is such a large number of them that it would put back the losses , and after three years, with good conduct and work records , they then could become legal citizens .We paid in already ,they have not paid at all.

In 1983, Alan Greenspan convinced Congress and idiot Reagan to raise taxes on Social Security benefits. Because us baby boomers were going to hit the system hard, we agreed. Instead putting the money aside to pay for us, the Repugs. spent it in the form of tax cuts to the rich and other giveaways. All these years of me paying extra taxes have been blown on tax cuts and foreign occupations. And now 'James' and other ilk like Lil' Johnny and RNC Bruce spew their nonsense. Is there any wonder the Republic party is imploding? When your whole reason for being is based on lies, people eventually will figure it out.

Also, Doug Z, that was a classic.

It's only fun when it has basis in truth.

No, RNC Bruce... we're laughing at you.

Patricia -

I don't know where you get to thinking that illegal immigrants are the cause of the anticipated Social Security shortfall, but I think both John D *and* Doug Zook will agree that the shortfall doesn't exist because of illegal immigrants.

Check out your facts on the shortfall. My lord...

Social security fund in which you and I have been contributing has been raided to support Cheney's war and his partners - Haliburton and Blackwater and the other profiteers. The baby boomers have been taken for patsies. If you really want to know what happened to social security, ask your congressmen to request an independent audit of the funds and the money trail. You will find the money is lining the pockets of the criminals in the current administration and their buddies. That's why Bush and his supporters were so anxious to privatize social security, so that they could blame the market and individual investors for their "own losses," rather than "the thieves" in the current white house. Don't you think Rove resigned because it was getting a bit too hot and too close to the truth.

I see Crazy John Devola checked in just as predicted.

Why did TR leave the Republic party?

A Note to James: As a "Boomer" myself, I have worked the last 40+ years "supporting" those who came before me on the rolls of SS, your great-grandparents and grandparents. Those two generations before me were entitled to collect SS from 65 to death with a much lower amount paid into the system than my generation. You, who are undoubtedly from one of the newer, more selfish generations, have no right to be calling my generation lazy and self-indulgent. You're probably one of those idiots who keep losing their jobs because they party too much, but I'll bet that you're the first one to file for unemployment. Talk about lazy.

"1. The SSA made it a photo-op. True, this marks the first person in a wave of many millions claiming social security, which may well bankrupt our nation, and at the very least, render us weaker than before, as the young are forced to support more and more lazy, self-indulgent boomers. But, hey, at least they can bankrupt our country faster and easier thanks to the online filing system!

2. Note the aforementioned wave that will crush the collective backbone of what was once the greatest nation in the world. But is that what concerns the author of the article? Nope. More important is the fact that it will make them feel old. See lazy and self-indulgent.

Posted by: James | October 15, 2007 5:40 PM"

James,

Your whole post is load of ♨☁.

The nation is already bankrupt. See GWB's war spending and tax cuts.

We lazy ones BTW have paid the most for the longest of any generation, thus supporting the retirements of 'The Greatest Generation'. We also accepted and paid the largest increases in FICA of any group.

What have you done for the country?

Myself?
With my first SS check plan to buy lots of overpriced hard liquor and spend the rest of lap dances.

Thanks for $$ James!

Doug,

Thanks for keeping the big picture well in focus. Thanks

James?

Wow. You walkin' ok, little buddy?

C Morris, TR left to create the Bull Moose party. He was president until 1908 and chose to not run again. William Taft did and won. TR was not happy with the Taft presidency and decided to run against him. TR split the Republican, and even to an extent the Democratic party in 1912. Most of those in the Bull Moose party were Republican, a few Democrat. Though TR and the Republicans who created the Bull Moose party returned to the Republican party.

TR was a great president. He was strong environmentally. He was strong defense. He was strong for the middle and lower class. He fought against monopolies. A few things he eventually favored I don't agree with.

Both parties today are too beholden to special interests, whether they are corporate, union, immigrant, trial lawyers, and there those crosses transcend the parties.

John D.,

No stems, no seeds that we don't need, RNC propaganda is f'ud up as a football bat.

Or sumting like dat dere.

I'm a boomer all right. But the SSA can do you know what to my you know what if they think I'm old. And they can do it twice if they think I'm either going to retire when I'm in my 60s, or take their socialist security payments, or medicaire.

I've gotten myself as far along in life as I have without the help of unions, or government handouts, or education loans, or any of the other stuff that Doug Zook so lovingly and carefully described. And I am not alone, either.

If you all want to live in a country where the government gives you the big nipple to suck on, then be my guest and try and make it that way. I pity you that you make yourself into such willing sheep.

As for me, I'll live free or die.

John D,

Nixon may have signed the bill to create the epa, but he was no champion. He did it under public pressure.

I'm tired of the "young" whining about people going on social security. After working full-time since the age of 18, paying tons of money in to the system, and supporting those who who live off the government's welfare system, we earned social security at retirement.

1977. I crashed my first car on my way to an Aerosmith concert. Had I known Tyler was 29 at the time, I would have thought to myself, that ol' man ain't worth it.

But the role of government isn't to be our daddy, to take care of use cradle to grave, etc. That is where you go askew.

Posted by: John D | October 15, 2007 7:24 PM

No John apparently it's role is breaching the constitution regarding
torture, eavesdropping, illegal incarceration to name just a few.

Hey Linda J ... nope! Boomers are lazy & self-indulgent. Stop bashing entire generations you know nothing about based on ... well, LAZY generalizations with no basis in fact. Wanna talk about sacrifice? Ho BOY!! Let's talk about sacrifice ... you bitch and moan that those who survived the Great Depression and propelled the US into a world superpower during WWII got a little of your social security money?? The prosperity you have enjoyed your entire life comes on the back of the tremendous sacrifices of the generation immediately before yours. Me?? I only wish my government called for the same level of sacrifice from the American people today that came during WWII - every single aspect of life was interrupted for four years while an entire country focused on the crisis at hand. That sacrifice shaped the entire role of America in the world for the rest of the 20th C ... and allowed you the luxury of being lazy and self-indulgent. Me?? I just inherited a world utterly bleeped up because a generation of spoiled, lazy, self-indulgent brats dominate all aspects of society by their sheer numbers alone. Me?? Never collected unemployment a day in my life. Worked full time while putting myself thru school. Struggled to move from below poverty level to upper middle class. I don't expect you or anyone else to care. JUST BE CAREFUL WHO YOU'RE CALLING LAZY & SELF-INDULGENT. Respect your elders and learn from their excellent example. And if you're really a Boomer, then ya got at least 10 years on me ... pretty ironic I'd be lecturing you on this topic. Then again, I've come to expect nothing less than immaturity and intellectual laziness from most of you. With a few notable examples (my many very respectable older friends), Boomers can't see past their own egos to appreciate anything of value in anyone else, younger or older. That's a tragedy, especially when there's so much to learn from the generation before yours.

Just for future reference, there is no Social Security Trust Fund. It is a collection of Treasury bonds the Department has cut to the SSA. In essence, its a collection of IOUs to the Government from the Government.

So James, I take it you will NOT accept any SS funds when you retire? Or will you have paid anything into the system by age 65?

I've gotten myself as far along in life as I have without the help of unions, or government handouts, or education loans, or any of the other stuff that Doug Zook so lovingly and carefully described

Posted by: John W. | October 15, 2007 10:09 PM

John W.-

What's your beef with unions? You don't seem to have a problem with corporations. Why should only management be able to legally band together for their own protection?

A union is the only means in many cases that a worker has to "live free" rather than being completely at the mercy of his employer.

Were workers more "free" in the late 19th century when most workers labored 12 hours a day, 6 days a week? Before you snear at unions, perhaps you should educate yourself a bit and read about the 8 and 10 hour day movements.

I suspect that when you say you will "live free or die" that It is only your personal freedom that you care about, and that you are willing to exploit the labor of others to the greatest extent possible to pay for it.

Lochness, as one who has paid into the SS system for nearly 30 years now, yeah, I'm going to take whatever I get. Why shouldn't I or anyone else? Really, it is MY paycheck in which the government takes MY money from.

Doug Zook- Pulling out the "Day in the life of Joe Republican" routine? C'mon, this one's been circling for years, some versions for decades(google it). Most of it's been debunked, or at least tabbed as completely biased, but where there is truth only clarifies one thing for me: I could have been a democrat 40 or 50 years ago. These days, no way. Of course, I'm not exactly pleased with the current crop of republicans either.

* * * * *

Posted by: AJF | October 16, 2007 9:00 AM

Nearly all of what you said is pure B.S.

1. I have neither any particular beef with unions nor any particular love for corporations. Both are moderately tolerable within limits. My reference to the fact that “I’ve gotten as far along in life as I have without the help of unions” was merely one illustration of how I don’t live in the "liberal paradise" so carefully described by Doug Zook. I'm sorry you missed the woods for the tree.

2. It is not true, or no longer true, that unions are the only means for many workers to avoid living at the mercy of an employer. This isn’t the 19th or 20th Century any more. Many people make living wages by their skills and effort without the protection of unions.

3. You suspect wrongly that it is only my personal freedom I care about, or that I am willing to exploit anyone to pay for my freedom. I’ve never exploited anyone in my life, and I resent your suggestion that I have done so or would do so. I’ve made my own money through my own skills and effort, and not by the sweat of anyone else’s brow. When I needed the labor of others to help me do my work, those people got whatever price they asked for – and they didn’t have to unionize to get it from me either.

Excuse me but American citizens have paid into Social Security all their working lives. Congress gets 15 percent of all the wages in America. Who is the bad player here? It’s not the American citizen. It’s the incompetent congress. No, matter your political party affiliation, and setting aside your thoughts on issues. We all need to remember what it is to be an American Citizen. We need to make sure our elected representatives obey their Oath of Office and keep their Oath of Allegiance. See http://tinyurl.com/2znnvl Know whom you are voting for.

"Many people make living wages by their skills and effort without the protection of unions."

And many don't. Take a look at all the great jobs that this admministartion has created at places like Walmart. You know, the kind of jobs that when you work there full time, you still need welfare to make ends meet?

Take a look at the Auto industry, where the workers are supposed to take the brunt of the failed policies of their employers, while management who made those policies gets bonuses.

"When I needed the labor of others to help me do my work, those people got whatever price they asked for – and they didn’t have to unionize to get it from me either."

I'll apologize and take you at your word. If only more employers were as enlightened as you are.

I would, however, invite you to think twice before you do glibbly discount the value of unions, student loans
and a government safety net. While I'm sure you are such a fantastic individual that you will never ever need to depend on anyone else for help, most people do need support from others at times. Good people, not lazy slackers. At times the government provides that support, at other times non-governmental groups like unions provide that support. Don't assume that the rest of the world is as blessed as your own charmed little corner of it.