POLITICO: How the baby boomers broke America.

[Peter1469]

POLITICO: How the baby boomers broke America. (https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/26/how-the-baby-boomers-broke-america-058122)

Interesting article that describes how the baby boomer's fetish with debt spending set the US up for decline and failure.


The 2020 election — barring a shocker — offers a strong chance of producing a president in their 70s.

American voters face leading candidates who are another septuagenarian baby boomer whose vision for America is to go back to the so-called glory days (Donald Trump), go back to boring (Joe Biden) or radically reshape America by spending trillions upon trillions of dollars (Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders) the U.S. may not really have.

And the strangest bit is that each of these frontrunners, even with radically different approaches, is promising to somehow address massive structural problems that their own generation — the enormous baby boom — largely created during a three-decade run dominating American political life.

The offering includes outliers like Pete Buttigieg, the millennial South Bend, Ind. mayor running openly on generational change. But the most likely outcome as it stands now is that the nation will yet again ask a baby boomer to fix what the baby boom broke. And it’s a lot to fix.

Read the rest of the article at the link.

[gamewell45]

looks like the Generation "X" people will never get a president they can call their own according to the article and as long as people continue to work, the social security and medicare programs will survive although cuts may be on the horizon. Guess we'll find out how true the prediction is down the road.

[Lummy]

OP immediately brought to mind Everett Dirksen, US Senator, Illinois, 1951-1969, and US Representative, Illinois, 1933-1949. From a farm family, he was an army Lieutenant, WW1. He is famously associated with the quote, "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money."

It is believed he said it on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. But the quip didn't originate with him.


The ... quotation ... goes back to the 1930s Depression years and even further. “A billion here, a billion there until billions are getting common” is recorded as early as 1917. The January 10, 1938 New York (NY) Times reported: “Well, now, about this new budget. It’s a billion here and a billion there, and by and by it begins to mount up into money.” Another near match for the quote is recorded in the 1940s: “A billion here and a billion there. It begins to run into money.” Numerous printed citations appeared in the 1950s and 1960s. https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/a_billion_here_a_billion_there_pretty_soon_youre_t alking_real_money


That's what it says. Whether the term "billion" was used in the 1930's is a question, however. I'd guess that it was not, but there it is.

But the suggestion is that Boomers can not be blamed for irresponsible spending of tax dollars. We probably can be blamed for many things, but not that. Government over-spending and debt are much older than we are.

[Common]

looks like the Generation "X" people will never get a president they can call their own according to the article and as long as people continue to work, the social security and medicare programs will survive although cuts may be on the horizon. Guess we'll find out how true the prediction is down the road.
They claimed obama

[Common]

BabyBoomers was a generation consumed with greed. When corporations went to performance based soley on profit, all morals went out the window and greed took over and CEOs burned everything in their path to get to the multimillion dollar bonus.

Loyalty to employees went out the window with the quest of profit also, work more hourse for less pay and less employees do more work.

[Masons Children]

BabyBoomers was a generation consumed with greed. When corporations went to performance based soley on profit, all morals went out the window and greed took over and CEOs burned everything in their path to get to the multimillion dollar bonus.

Loyalty to employees went out the window with the quest of profit also, work more hourse for less pay and less employees do more work.

When did corps not operate solely for profit?

[Ethereal]

Boomers did massive damage to society and then tried to blame everything on millennials.

[Rationalist]

Boomers did massive damage to society and then tried to blame everything on millennials.

Agreed, although to be fair, the "greatest generation" also voted for the same people that expanded debts dramatically.

One could also argue that the generations who voted for FDR 4 times had a similar effect on society.

[Captdon]

Boomers did massive damage to society and then tried to blame everything on millennials.

What problems did we start? We paid more into crap programs than the millennials ever will. We worked harder. We invented things. We weren't the problem in any way. We supported our parents and every generation until the Millennials cane bullshitting along.

[Rooster]

When did corps not operate solely for profit?

The goal of business has always been profit, but I would assume Common was stating the "degree" of greed has multiplied. I agree with that. There was a time when men did business with a handshake, not so long ago. Our business ethics have gone the way of our morals. Now if you close a deal with a handshake...you count your fingers.

[Peter1469]

What problems did we start? We paid more into crap programs than the millennials ever will. We worked harder. We invented things. We weren't the problem in any way. We supported our parents and every generation until the Millennials cane bullshitting along.
The Baby Boombers solidified an unsustainable welfare state. As the Boomber retire there will be a short-fall of workers to pay for the welfare programs. The Boomers also gave us ~$21T of federal government debt.

I did see an article last night that said Millennials will get wealthy from the estates of Boomers, but more likely Millennials will use that wealth to pay off their student loans and perhaps have money to finally put a down payment on a mortgage.

[carolina73]

People blame business because these people are weak losers. In reality the business should pay no tax in the USA because those they distribute it to have to pay the tax on the personal level. All you do is make the US businesses less competitive domestically and on exports. Just like a stock it is all just a paper gain until the day you exchange it Someone gets paid).

It was not businesses that created the deficit/debt. It was the politicians. It is a spending problem the greedy let them buy your vote. Now they want consumers/taxpayers to watch their kids for them, pay for them to have them and their time off, and their husbands; maybe we should add grandparents and sisters and brothers? Take care of my parents when they get older. Take care of my kids. Take care of me. SCREW the person that actually pays all the bills.

Why would we pay farmers not to grow food and raise prices to consumers?
Why would we builds roads and bridges that are not in the interstate system?
Why don't your Social Security contributions go into a lock box in your own banks?
Why are we paying for political junkets?
Why are we paying for illegal immigrants? If we are letting them in then why do we not insist they pay a flat rate tax and have medical insurance? That is where the employers of illegals are cheating the government and then using the saving to undercut those companies following the law.
Why is the Federal Government involved in local schools? I can understand that they would want to measure but that would require a small fraction of their current spending.
Let's buy the minorities off, then the gay community, then the woman voter, then certain religious sects...

The Federal Government was created for mutual defense and to settle conflicts between the states. That is the priority. 30% of the Federal Government is self-created waste and that includes spending within the military. QE added over 4 trillion to the debt to pay for politicians buying the votes of people that the enabled to buy houses that they could not afford and government forced the banks to give those loans.

So if you are one of these losers that wants to blame everyone else for your inability to perform then maybe we need a Viagra for effort and self-sustainability.

[MisterVeritis]

POLITICO: How the baby boomers broke America. (https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/26/how-the-baby-boomers-broke-america-058122)

Interesting article that describes how the baby boomer's fetish with debt spending set the US up for decline and failure.

Read the rest of the article at the link.
None of this was possible before FDR conducted his counter revolution that tossed out the original Constitution.

[Peter1469]

None of this was possible before FDR conducted his counter revolution that tossed out the original Constitution.
I agree.

[Tahuyaman]

BabyBoomers was a generation consumed with greed....

Baby Boomers were given too much too quickly by the previous generation. They created the entitlement mentality.