Unemployment, Taxes and Pensions

Lets start with the fact that our children cannot get jobs. Youth and Unemployment. They cannot get jobs because WE screwed up and trashed the economy by taking out loans that we never expected to pay back. "People borrowed money that they did not have, to buy things they did not need, to impress people they did not like." You can blame the banks and the regulators; but, in the end we took the loans. I did not, by we, I mean our generation.

State and local governments across this nation are being asked to either cut services, layoff employees or take cuts in the pensions that retirees and existing employees were promised and worked for. The employees that get laid off are the youngest ones, our children. In addition, current employees are being asked to vote on what benefits future employees will get, again we are voting on the burden we will place on our children.

Is this who we want to be? Many of our generation are saying that they are already sharing the burden; but, we created it so we should. Do wish to leave our children with a third world reality while we get "what we worked for". I would argue that we already got much of ours by creating the debt our children will have to pay. Some government employees understand this and are attempting to share the burden. The City of Hermosa Beach is a good example.

I cannot retire for four years at the earliest, my health is not spectacular and I really don't wish to work for my employer anymore. If given the choice, I would work additional years and pay more into the system rather than completely sell out the next generation. I support having my salary cut 10% and increasing my contribution to my pension and benefits. I have stated this to my union representatives.

Even if we take the cuts that I propose, our children still have a bleak outlook. It is doubtful most will own their own homes, be able to have a wife stay at home and raise the children or even have children in wedlock. Baby boomers, like Billy Joel, may claim that they didn't start the fire; but, will they take the opportunity to take the hit for their children (Mr. Joel asks towards the end of the son "But when we are gone will it still go on)? The baby boomers had the greatest lifestyle in the history of the world, time to payback. The baby boomers have consistently been the most selfish generation in history and the most self satisfied.

It is truly a question of balance and fairness. The question should be how much can we contribute and how much can we expect of others. I believe that because people are living longer that the new employees should work a little longer. Sorry young employees; but, when the retirement ages were set, the average worker only lived to about 62, you live till 75 and it is expected to increase. I would raise the retirement age by 5 years and raise the amount contributed by todays employees by the same percentage, share the pain by the same percentage.

Now comes the toughest part, people who are already retired. I would not cut back on what they get; however, I would not give cost of living increases for five years unless inflation skyrockets. My reasoning is simple, retired people cannot change their position, especially if they have been retired for more than 5 years because the skill sets are often lost.

One final thing, I would immediately start a new Work Progress Administration so that the youth can get jobs and be taught by the more experienced workers who have been laid off. Rather than make the unemployed homeless and/or pay them money for not working, I would have three tiers of government programs. The first would be for the disabled and underage who cannot work, the second would be an employment program (WPA) for those who wist to work and the third would be for those who can work; but are unwilling to (that group gets only food).

I would not pay women for having children out of wedlock, I would give them a supply of condoms and the pill. If they chose to have the children, I want them to work. We have a created a system that benefits people to make bad choices, across the board. We need to create a system that benefits people for making good choices.

As I have said previously, we should tie peoples pensions to their productivity by making them invest in the companies and organizations that they work for. We don't have to worry about deceitful workers compensation claims if we do so because their own co-workers will turn them in. We can also expect a decrease in thievery if you know your co-worker will turn you in because he doesn't want to work forever. Oddly enough, people will even want to have demanding bosses who know what needs to be done so that all can benefit.

We need to stop trying to make the future the other guys problem, it is our problem and we need to work together and share. I wrote about sharing before, it is good for the soul and character. Our children will appreciate it more if we share the burden with them and we will feel better knowing that we did not leave them with a horrible future. At least that is what I am thinking about.