Sad wealth transfer

From IBD: Read it all to confirm how the young people in the U.S. are being scammed by us old folks and their government. The sad thing is the young are too distracted, too unsophisticated, and even too poorly educated to realize what is happening to them as they fall for the glib Obama message that "change" and a new way of doing business in Washington will accrue to them during his administration. In fact their future will be severely compromised by the socialist they helped elect.

In fiscal 2008 — the last "normal" year before the economic crisis — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (programs wholly or primarily dedicated to the elderly) totaled $1.3 trillion, 43% of federal spending and more than twice military spending.

Because workers, not retirees, are the primary taxpayers, this spending involves huge transfers to the old.

Comes now the House-passed health care "reform" bill that, amazingly, would extract more subsidies from the young. It mandates that health insurance premiums for older Americans be no more than twice the level of younger Americans. That's much less than the actual health spending gap between young and old.

Spending for those aged 60-64 is four to five times greater than those 18-24. So, the young would overpay for insurance which — under the House bill — people must buy: 20- and 30-somethings would subsidize premiums for 50- and 60-somethings. (Those 65 and over receive Medicare.)