Defending public workers from attacks

WORDS THAT WORK: DEFENDING PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

1. Emphasize the services, not the pay. We can’t begin a conversation with the public about the reasons public employees should be paid better, or deserve good pensions, until people feel good about the services we’re providing to them. Talk about what people enjoy thanks to public employees (e.g. cleaner air, smarter children, healthier seniors, safer communities).

2. What does your job mean for people, exactly? It’s easy to get lost in the details of your job description. But you’re more persuasive when you talk about what your job means for people in their day-to-day lives. What real-life problems are you solving for people?

3. Tap into Canadian values. Talk about how the services you provide support core Canadian values such as equity, opportunity, compassion, dignity, security etc.

4. Tell powerful stories about helping someone. When we evoke a shared experience, a deeply felt value, or describe suffering we can all relate to, then we’re connecting on a deeper level. 5. Emphasize the risky nature of the job. The riskier the job, the higher it is in public esteem.

Specific talking points:

You hear that Public Servants are Overpaid

You state that Public employees provide the quality services that create a better life for everyone –cleaner air, healthier seniors, smarter children, safer communities, dynamic cities, saferroads).

You hear that a Public Servant described as a Bureaucrat

You can refer to the thousands of dedicated employees who make sure the roads are passable in the winter, who help the young runaway find a safe place to sleep.

You hear someone say that Public Servants do not Sacrifice and have it easy

You can remind them that We need the specialized skills and valuable experience of public employees to make sure we all get good services and value for the long term. Public employees do important work every day – tackling disadvantage, extending opportunity, building stronger communities, dealing with emergencies, improving everyone’s quality of life.

Someone complains that there are too many Public Servants

You can remind them that these employees who do difficult jobs that keep us safe – like Deputy Sheriffs who escort prisoners, maintain court security and serve court orders.

Someone makes fun of the workers by saying they have such Soft government jobs

You remind them that Public Servants perform the hazardous job of inspecting bridges, dams, sewers and other public infrastructure. People who perform the risky job of guarding prisoners and fighting forest fires. People who perform the crucial job of protecting children in disadvantaged situations.

Source: NATIONAL UNION OF PUBLIC AND GENERAL EMPLOYEES, 15 AURIGA DRIVE | NEPEAN, ON

What are the most critical issues facing seniors?

I thought the following question was interesting and so I summarized the answers given on the E-Street Question:  posted  JUNE 25, 2012, if you are interested in the full responses you can go to the source: 

Source: Go here for the full answers

Housing Issues

• Many seniors are providing daycare for their grandchildren so that the parents can work or study. We need a childcare system that parents can access
• Housing Issues
• Affordable Housing
• Seniors Low cost Housing in next to impossible to find
• Lack of adequate home-care

Health Care Issues

• Seniors need affordable housing and better health care.
• Better Healthcare
• Home support programs
• Assisted Suicide, which makes it cheaper to fund a death, than to save a life
• Seniors wait longer than others to receive most “elective” surgeries, such as hip & knee replacements, cardiac procedures, and spinal surgery.
• Seniors, having paid taxes and provincial healthcare premiums all their lives, receive less consideration from our system than do their own children and grandchildren, who may have contributed nothing. The current “hurry up” program to provide timely hip & knee replacements, only applies to patients under 80. Those people older than 80 remain on the bottom of the list.
• The issue of senior abuse, whether that be from family or caregivers
• If you are not covered with extended care like us, you're in deep trouble, financially. It would be a major improvement if seniors did not have to face prescription costs. 
• Health Canada and its allegiance with the pharmaceutical industry.
• Affordable, accessible, timely health care prescription drugs should be covered so that people don't have to pay $1,000 per month from their retirement income. Preventive medicine makes a lot of sense
• Increasing physical and mental health issues, care centers for the old and infirm struggle to satisfy the needs of those with dementia, Alzheimer and chronic illness. These Care Centres are facing increasing challenges; the hiring of adequate numbers of capable, well-educated staff: trained Administrators and Social workers, RNs and LPNs and Care Aides with geriatric training and above all a propensity for loving the care of aged, frail, and infirm seniors
• Senior abuse as well as seniors health are some of the most important issues affecting seniors in this province. In addition, there is a lack of short term and long-term care facilities for seniors.
• They need and deserve decent housing and Healthcare! If they are living in a Government Facility, they lose 80% of their income
• Access to health and social care, housing and transportation, isolation and loneliness, elder abuse and navigating our complex system of services
• The cost of prescriptions and the availability of medical care
• The waiting list for a Senior to see a referred to Specialist is interminable
• Reliable health care. This would apply especially to extended care facilities.

Debt

• Employment opportunities to supplement pensions
• Age discrimination by people who think they should be put out to pasture.
• Currently, there are a large number of people over 65 who either have minimal funds saved for retirement or no funds at all. 
• Fixed, usually low, income, spiraling cost of living.............you do the math.
• The costs of housing, food, and gasoline are among the critical issues of seniors
• There will be hundreds of thousands of us living in extreme poverty.
• The ever increasing monthly rise in the cost of living compared to the amounts that the pensions pay out and when pensions go up ; they don't really go up as the cost of living goes up 3 x's faster than any increase any one ever gets.
• Living on a fixed income with all of the taxes imposed by every level of government: local, regional, provincial and federal
• The erosion of spending power of the meagre dollars that they get in their pensions
• Financial stability
• The never ending tax and fee increases, with fixed limited income for seniors is certainly a huge problem.
• Housing and heating has become so expensive that most people struggle to find enough money to pay for basic monthly expenses such as food and medications

Lifestyle

• The sense of entitlement to high-quality care neither they nor taxpayers can afford when their lives as retirees exceed their working lives.
• Lack of adequate affordable housing, from preserving current home to a menu of specific types of housing to meet needs
• Programs to eliminate loneliness
• Aging with dignity, means better programs/homes for seniors
• Seniors deserve a level of respect and care commiserate with their age and sacrifices.
• Educate Seniors that their health and wellbeing are directly linked to exercise and diet. Encourage them to enter the 21st century with computer literacy.
• Have the government and the agencies that are intended to provide all levels of assistance and support, ensure that our elder citizens are afforded the respect they deserve
• Seniors stories deserve to be told. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience that will go untold if they remain isolated in their homes or in nursing homes. Go back to the old days of a nursing home - that was a home, not an institution.
• Not all seniors have large pensions, own their home or can afford the health care that increases with age
• Training for an elderly future should begin at the high school level. Subjects could include: financial planning and investing and basic cooking
• Seniors need independence to choose, the ability to participate in their own destiny, the right to self - fulfillment, to live out their life in dignity, while receiving the highest quality of care .

Government policies,

• Seniors must choose: pay for rent or food or medication. The Canadian Nurses Association just publicly denounced lack of economic security as a major cause of poor health. *Ed. to note
• Municipal Policies along with deteriorating infrastructures drive seniors out of their homes.
• User fees, high taxes, and government waste. Government spending is out of control, and seniors are being stiffed with health care premiums, carbon taxes, etc.
• Governments’ persistent increasing of the gap between rich and poor by giving tax breaks only to Big Business
• Pensions have become a sick joke with most pensioners either going to food banks or eating food that is not nutritious enough to keep their health up.
• Governments slapping up Casinos everywhere
• The cost of living. Governments continue to ignore the fact that there are too many seniors living under the poverty line. They offer us tax credits, but those credits are useless to those not making enough to take advantage of them.
• Harper needs to address the issue of pensions to ensure that ALL Canadians seniors get to live the ending of their lives in comfort, security and peace.
• Everyone pays taxes on employment income – why should seniors also pay taxes on pension benefits? Health care costs are a big issue. Many seniors are having to make do by living on incomes below the poverty line. The cost of living increases 3 or 4 or 5% – politicians get nice fat increases, Hydro can increase their rates by 3 or 4% yet many seniors are living on fixed incomes and do not get any increase in their income.
•  The lack of acceptance for residency applications of Canadian doctors, studying abroad, who want to return to Canada and practice in remote communities who so dearly need physicians.
• One central information line would be best... you phone there and get redirected to where and what you need - it could save a life

Why Do Different Ideologies Exist?

This all begs the obvious question about the existence of differing ideologies between people. Why do they exist? And how are they constituted differently? George Lakoff has demonstrated in his studies (which are supported strongly by psychoanalysis), that human beings are not born already believing an ideology. Rather people are socialized into an ideology during their childhood formative years. The main agents which prescribe the ideology are the parental authority figures surrounding the child, who rear him, from infantile dependency on the parent-figures, into an independent adult. The parental values of how the child should be an independent and responsible adult, in regards to his relations between his self and others, later informs that child’s ideology as an adult.

Lakoff shows that two dominant parenting types exist, which can determine the child’s adult ideology. Individuals reared under the “Strict Parent” model tend to grow-up as political conservatives, while those raised under a “Nurturing Parent” model tend to become political liberals. His most influential book on these matters, “Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think”, was published in 1996.

Of course, peoples’ minds can fundamentally change, along with their ideological values. But short of a concerted effort by an individual to change, through one form of therapy or another, that change is mostly fostered by traumatic or long-endured life experiences.

Yet many minds remain rock solid for life, beliefs included. As psychiatrist Scott Peck sees it, “Only a relative and fortunate few continue until the moment of death exploring the mystery of reality, ever enlarging and refining and redefining their understanding of the world and what is true.”

Thus to answer Nyahan’s question—how can society counter the negative effects of backfire?—it seems only one answer is viable. Society will need to adopt the truths uncovered by cognitive science and psychoanalysis. And society will have to use those truths to inform their overall cultural practices and values. Short of that, Peck’s “fortunate few” will remain the only individuals among us who resist self-delusion.

Article originally appeared on Seismologik (http://www.seismologik.com/ ).

Planning and thinking about retirement

While I’ve heard that ignorance is bliss, habitual laziness when it comes to learning about best practices on planning for your future is likely to lead to misery down the road

This becomes an even greater truth when you consider that:

The U.S. Census Bureau projects by 2050 there will be 1.1 million centenarians in America alone. Meanwhile, researchers at Boston University predict there will be even more, estimating some 3 million baby boomers will live to be 100 or older.

Technology & Modern Medicine continue to improve at breakneck speeds Cures, effective treatments, and possibly even preventative measures may exist for today’s most common causes of death by the time you are ready to retire. Who knows what your life span may end up being!

If you think about just these two things it may be wise to plan your retirement with the assumption you will live to 100 (at least). If you retire at age 60 then retirement could very well encompass 40% of your entire life.  So, why are you not investing time to .to learn how to SIGNIFICANTLY improve the quality and security of your retirement.

Won’t you  have much less of a problem if your money outlives you rather than the other way around?

You may have less of a worry with that compared to many others if you have a defined benefit plan that promises you pension income for life. However, I suggest that you may want to consider learning about investment and saving strategies for retirement in addition to your pension.

If you do not have a defined benefit plan, then you really do need to consider learning about investing /savings for your retirement. The question is how much responsibility do you have and how much does society have for your pension.

The current government in Canada believes that they have little or no responsibility beyond laying out a framework that allows the individual some tax breaks if they save for retirement. The government of Canada would, in my view, like to gut the Old Age Security program, not because it doesn’t’ work but because it is a social program that takes away responsibility from the individual for planning their own retirement.

I have also notice that pension reformers from around the world, are trying to shift the focus away from the government and corporations and back to the individual.

For example in the US many States have recently altered their pension benefits in some way. In fact, the Chicago Tribune reported that in 2010 and 2011, a whopping 41 States  enacted some form of change to their pension plan. These changes could have been anything from:

• Increasing retirement age for teachers and other state employees
• Requiring a higher percentage of salary to be contributed to the pension by employees
• Reduced future pension benefits and/or retiree healthcare benefits

Several States used a combination of those measures. In some States, these changes may be enough to not have to implement any further changes, but there is some strong concern that that these changes are giving states precedent to make more (as well as more aggressive) pension alterations in the future.

Boomers who are Bust is that the norm or exception?

The other day I was listening to radio and the story line was about Boomers who are bust. Older workers who do not have enough fo retirement because they did not save enough. Older workers who did not have enough for retirement because they lost their jobs, etc.

While the press may be waking up to the issue as the boomers start to hit 65, the problem should have been known to the government and planners 60 plus years ago. The problem is now here and people are starting to think about it.

I have friends who are in the position of not having enough for retirement, through no fault of their own. Part of the issue is how the planners see us as investors and therefore plan as such. Another contributing factor is the current leaders think like economists.

My university training is in Economics and one thing I know is that Economists are not really original thinkers and they tend to buy into theories and discount human behaviour in their thinking, which is a shame.


Planners and Government mandarins tend to belive that the ‘economic investor’ is  a dispassionate individual who is unaffected  by emotions such as anxiety, regret, hope and fear. I can tell you that this rational investor simply does not exist. Everyone sees the world from a perspective which is uniquely theirs, and investing is no different.

People have individual goals, requirements, desires, fears and hopes for their wealth. We all have different habits, different people we trust for advice, and different beliefs about the right decision on any occasion. But we all exhibit very similar psychological biases in our financial decision making, which can lead to poor portfolio choices and subsequent investment performance.


The information in this blog has been taken from Pooled Target-Benefit Pension Plans: Building on PRPPs  by Robert L. Brown and Tyler Meredith and from reports from Barclay Banks Behavioural Finance reports.

How you ask is sometimes more important than what you ask. Individuals are extremely sensitive to the way in which decisions are presented or ‘framed’ – simply changing the wording or adding irrelevant background detail can dramatically change people’s perceptions of the alternatives available to them, even where there is no reason for their underlying preferences to have changed. Consequently the framing of questions can often influence the decision that is made.

More than 60 percent of working Canadians currently don’t have a workplace pension. For those who do have one, it does not guarantee them retirement security. With employers increasingly opting for defined-contribution (DC) rather than defined-benefit (DB) pension plans, the burden of managing the risks associated with a pension — such as longevity and the market performance of assets — has shifted to the worker. While this shift may have curtailed pension costs for businesses, it has also left workers more vulnerable financially, since many do not have the wherewithal to plan effectively for retirement.

The world of employer-sponsored pension plans is evolving. While the traditional defined benefit (DB) pension plan remains the primary model for occupational pensions — where they exist — DB pensions have been in a slow and persistent decline for more than two decades. This decline can be measured in different ways: (1) Between 1986 and 2010, the proportion of the Canadian labour force covered by DB pension plans shrank from 39 percent to 29 percent, while over the same period the number of  employees covered by defined contribution (DC) pension plans nearly tripled. (2) The share of registered pension plan members covered by a DB plan fell from 92 to 75 percent, while the proportion in a DC plan doubled from 7 to 16 percent (with the remaining 9 percent covered by hybrid and combined plans) (Statistics Canada 2010b,c).These statistics tell us that there has been a notable shift away from DB pensions,

As in many other countries, in Canada the decline of DB pensions has been felt almost exclusively in the private sector. Among public sector workers, 86 percent have workplace pensions, of which 94 percent are DB. Yet only 25 percent of Canadian private sector workers have workplace pensions, and only 56 percent of those are DB (Statistics Canada 2011). The concern is that for middle-income Canadians, access to a stable, secure and adequate standard of living after retirement increasingly depends on where one is employed.

The 2011 Towers Watson DC Retirement Age Index (figure 3) uses market performance to calculate the age at which an average middle-income worker paying into a DC plan can retire with sufficient asset value to pay for a life annuity guaranteeing an average rate of income replacement. According to the index, workers have had to increase Pooled Target-Benefit Pension Plans: Building on PRPPs their retirement savings by an equivalent of seven years just to balance off losses since the financial crisis of autumn 2008. For many, this means making a trade-off between taking early retirement and achieving the desired standard of living.

A growing number of individuals are now covered by a pension plan that is neither traditional DB nor traditional DC. While it is still a relatively small proportion of total registered pension plan coverage, as of 2010 more than 530,000 workers were covered by hybrid plans as classified by Statistics Canada. Growth in their membership has been nearly tenfold since 1986 (Statistics Canada 2010b). It is important to emphasize that these figures do not include a number of DB regulated plans that possess important elements of hybrid design, such as target-benefit plans. When these are included, as many as one million more workers could be added to the hybrid plan pool, representing a strong cross-section of the Canadian labour force.

Although the optimal rate of income replacement for retirement remains an open question (Mintz 2009; Horner 2009; Wolfson 2011), it is generally accepted that a growing number of modest- and middle-income working-age Canadians are not saving sufficiently to ensure that they will be able to maintain a comparable standard of living once they retire (Horner 2011; Wolfson 2011; Canadian Institute of Actuaries 2007). There are a number of reasons for this. Perhaps most importantly, the propensity to save has diminished significantly over the last several decades. The stagnation of real incomes since the 1980s, combined with increased volatility in financial markets, has made saving more difficult and less secure. Symptoms of this trend are flat real-dollar growth in RRSP contributions and increasing reliance on personal debt as a source of retirement funding (Robson 2010). For the most part, this trend is a middle-class problem (LaRochelle-Côté, Myles, and Picot 2008; Wolfson 2011). Low-income Canadians can generally be assured of replacement rates of 70 to 80 percent, thanks to Canada’s strong foundation of universal and targeted retirement income programs: Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), together known as Pillar 1 of Canada’s retirement income system; and the CPP/QPP, known as Pillar 2 (Mintz 2009)

So the middle class have a large looming pension crises and in response the government is deciding to raise the age of retirement and to cause further distress for the middle class and the boomers. I think they forget we vote.

Canadian Institute of Actuaries. 2007. Planning for Retirement: Are Canadians Saving Enough? Ottawa: CIA.

Horner, K. 2009. Retirement Savings by Canadian Households. Report for the Research Working Group on Retirement Saving. Ottawa: Finance Canada

LaRochelle-Côté, S., J.F. Myles, and G. Picot. 2008. “Income Security and Stability During Retirement in Canada.” =Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series, catalogue no. 11F0019 — no. 306. Ottawa: Statistics Canada

Mintz, J. 2009. Summary Report on Retirement Income Adequacy Research. Federal Research Working Group on Income Adequacy. Ottawa: Finance Canada

Wolfson, M. 2011. Projecting the Adequacy of Canadians’ Retirement Incomes: Current Prospects and Possible Reform Options. IRPP Study 17. Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy.

Harper Pension Reform and Britain

Harper loves the British so stay tuned for this idea or a variaton of it coming into Canada as a method of pension reform.

There are two ideas that Harper could put into his budget on Thursday,  the first is to link the age a person can collect a pension with longevity and it should appeal to the Harper bunch. They will argue personal responsibility and sustainablilty are the keys to pension reform and that this is an idea that could work.

The second idea is The Chancellor's "simplification" of pensions which will hit existing pensioners the most.  The simplification is done by freezing of the age related income tax personal allowance. Specifically the move to freeze age-related tax allowances will hit less wealthy retired people. The Government says this is a measure to 'simplify' the tax system but the reality is that this is really just a revenue-raising exercise.

Figures published by Treasury show that, come next April, in Britain, some 4.41 million pensioners will be worse off in real terms, with an average loss of £83, as a result of the freezing of the age-related income tax personal allowance.

These ideas on the face of it appear to be reasonable, but they do not take into account human nature and past experience. My prediction look for Harper to put some this idea or variations of it up as he fights to destroy the Canadain safety net and take us to a more US based model of government.

 The following was taken from a story written by Toby Helm in the guardian.co.uk, on Saturday 24 March 2012 21.02 GMT  and from an article at Personal Pensions at PensionCalculator.org

Students graduating this summer in Great Britain, can expect to wait until they are at least 71 before receiving a state pension – three years longer than under current plans – following a budget decision to link retirement ages to changes in life expectancy.

The move by chancellor George Osborne to create an automatic link between longevity and the pension age means that tens of millions of people under 50 who expected to retire in their middle to late 60s will have their state pensions shunted between one and three years further back.

While on the face of it that sounds sensible,this  move may create uncertainty about retirement planning. In short, depending on your age, you won't know when you will be eligible to receive your state pension.
Analysis by the country's leading experts in longevity and public sector pensions, Club Vita, suggests that a child born today will have to wait until 74 at the earliest for a state pension. Club Vita is a sister company of Hymans Robertson, a key player in advising on reform of all public sector schemes.

The Government in Britain has already increased the age when people can get the pension and the latest review could mean those currently aged 20 to 30 could be forced to wait until they reach 70 or older. Indeed one estimate this week suggested that a child born in 2012 will have to wait until they reach 80 not 74 as stated above.
"Our analysis suggests that the state pension age will need to rise to 68 and over for those currently aged below 50," said Club Vita's Steven Baxter. "This would accelerate the current plans, bringing forward the rise [to 68] from 2046 to around 2030.People must start preparing for retirement earlier to make up for life expectancy increases and poorer investment returns, a new study have found. In the study it was discovered that only a quarter of those in their fifties have enough saved for retirement.

As they have not saved enough, many baby boomers face making the hard decision of either delaying their retirement and working for longer, in some cases into their 70s, or retiring with an inadequate income. The research found that a third of those in their fifties had no retirement savings at all.

Those currently in their fifties have greatly benefitted from increases in health and life expectancy that no other group of retirees have to the same extent. A man retiring at age 65 now has a life expectancy of 82 and a woman of 85. This means planning to support oneself on a retirement income for a longer period of time.

At the same time the value of savings has dropped, market returns have gotten poorer, company pensions have been axed, the value of the state pension has fallen in real terms and inflation has been higher than expected. Experts now say that many in their fifties have not saved enough in pensions in order to retire comfortably.

In Wednesday's budget Osborne announced that the state pension age will be adjusted automatically "to take into account increases in longevity".

Currently life expectancy is rising by around 2.5 years every decade, meaning ever increasing costs. This rate of increase is expected to continue for the next 10 years before slowing. Ministers argue that the pension system will become unaffordable without reform.

Setting the stage for further conflict with unions, Osborne made clear that the retirement age for public sector workers would also have to climb to reflect future rises in the state pension age. Since the research shows that the majority of people do not know have much they have saved for retirement.  In  fact figures show that Britons are currently chronically under saving for retirement and the sooner someone starts saving, the less they have to contribute to a pension each month. The Government has created the auto-enrolment scheme, which starts to roll out from October, in an attempt to encourage Britons to save more.

Pension experts and groups representing the elderly say ministers will need to take into account the number of healthy years somebody is expected to spend in retirement, as well as life expectancy.
"This gap between full and 'healthy' life expectancy has been widening as the number of years spent in ill health at the end of life has increased," said Baxter. "When increasing state pension age, the issue of whether the extra time before state pension age is spent in good health, with people able to work, needs to be considered."

Michelle Mitchell, Age UK's charity director, said: "Age UK recognises that as life expectancy increases it is reasonable to consider increases to the state pension age and longer working lives; however this decision has been based on no published detailed analysis.

"Average life expectancy must not be the only factor that is considered as, at the moment, the huge disparities in healthy life expectancy across the country means that the poorest socio-economic groups will be required to sacrifice proportionately more of their retirement."

The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving.

The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving. There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named  Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto,  as a Nurse. She had an 'ulterior motive' .. She KNEW what the Nazi's  plans were for the Jews, (being German.)  Irena smuggled infants out in  the bottom of the tool box she carried in the back of her truck. She  also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers  let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted  nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants  noises. During her time doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs,  arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the  kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar ,buried under a tree in  her back yard.  After  the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and  reunited the family.  Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got  placed into foster family homes or adopted.. Last year Irena was up  for the Nobel Peace Prize ... She was not selected. Al Gore won,  for a slide show on Global Warming.. She  died, whilst being nursed by one of the children she saved from the gas  chamber.    It  is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended.  Now, more than ever, with Iraq , Iran , and others,  claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it's imperative to make sure the  world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it  again.

The shift to find blame continues

Are Baby Boomers to Blame for the Crises published at CNN July 29th  by  Ed Hornick

The following is another attempt by the right to start to shift the agenda and to frame the crises in a way that allows the public to support the idea of having less. You will start to see more stories like this in Canada over the next months. Just be aware that the shift cannot happen without your support, so stay informed and be aware of hidden agendas by the right.

Washington (CNN) -- Baby boomers -- those born between 1946 and 1964 -- have been described as "the pig in the python" and the "sandwich generation."

They lived well, grew up in relative abundance and, some say, expected their Social Security, health care and government support to be there as they grew old.

Now, as the future of the country's economy is up in the air, is this group of 80 million aging Americans -- many of whom are sprinting toward retirement age -- the ones to blame for the nation's shaky economic system?

The answer is not so simple.

Baby boomers grew up during relative prosperity, from the economic boom of the post-World War II '50s to the "Me" generation of the '60s through the lucrative uptick in the Reagan '80s. And then there were the budget surpluses they enjoyed during the Clinton '90s.

As a result, many were able to buy second homes, take out loans at low interest rates, buy cheap gas and pump money back into the economy.

Life was good, many say, until September 2008.

In the last days of the Bush administration, the economy went belly-up, forcing Washington to bail out Wall Street in order to prevent another Great Depression.

"Keep in mind that our parents who lived through the depression understand what adversity looks like. I'm not sure baby boomers know what that looks like," said David Cork, a demographer and baby boomer himself. "So maybe we got a bit of a taste for it two years ago."

Cork, a Canadian businessman and author of the book "The Pig and the Python," said the American economy has been thriving especially in boomers' formative years, "so they're not used to adversity."

"It's not because the boomers are a nasty generation. It's just that there's a lot of us, and we have a tendency of wanting to get it our own way," he added. "I think we've been very successful at that. We've created great wealth, but we are looking at it at a time when you have to pay the piper."

An analysis of data from the past three censuses shows that because of baby boomers' "aging in place," the population of those age 45 and over grew 18 times as fast as the population under age 45 between 2000 and 2010, said William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institute.

Frey's report also found that the baby boomers (or "pre-seniors," as he called them) are "growing rapidly in all areas of the country," including college towns like Austin, Texas, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Madison, Wisconsin.

Regions experiencing the fastest senior -- age 65 and older -- growth are in the Sun Belt, which stretches from Western states such as California and Arizona east to Florida, according to the report.

Frey, also a boomer, said that although his generation is not necessarily taking the entitlement programs that their parents are, they can see what's coming down the road.

"They're not trying to skim off money from everybody else," he said. "It's just that these are issues that are now front and center for them where they weren't before."

Still, as a generation, they will have paid less into the Social Security system than they are expected to take out. According to a report from the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees, the Social Security system is expected to be solvent until about 2037 -- largely because of the surplus in the Trust Fund -- even though the payroll taxes flowing in stop being enough to cover the expenses flowing out in 2017.

Thomas Firey, a senior editor at the conservative Cato Institute and member of generation X, said it's unclear as to what's going to happen to Social Security.

"Under current law, what's supposed to happen is once the trust fund runs dry, the benefits are to be cut by roughly 25% to bring it back into balance. Each year's income will equalize the outflow," said Frey, who wrote a 2001 column titled "Boomers Fleece Generation X with Social Security. "But no one expects that to happen. (So) are we going to raise taxes on current workers? Are we going to get rid of the tax?"

But criticizing baby boomers is not necessarily a politically wise thing to do, especially when it comes to their voting behavior. Older voters consistently turn out in elections and are a key demographic for politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Jerry Shereshewsky, the self-described "chief grown-up" at the firm GrownUpMarketing, is a baby boomer. The 65-year-old said it's not his generation group to blame, it's Congress'.

"It was not a secret that this largest cohort in American history was going to get older every year," he said. "The fact that Congress has not done a very good job of keeping up with what is really happening in the world: life expectancy, better medical care. You give people a lot of cake and ice cream, they're going to eat it."

Frey added that any good demographer would have told you 20 years ago that "we would be hitting the wall around now. But it hasn't seemed to sink in for folks on Capitol Hill or anywhere else."

Shereshewsky also issued a stern warning to those in Congress who may blame boomers for today's economic problems.

"If you want to look through the telescope and say who should be getting beaten up here a little bit, I would say every member of the legislative branch for the last 30 years should be taken outside and spanked, because they did really stupid things," he said. "Why did they increase these benefits? They get votes. Why don't they raise taxes? They're afraid someone's not going to vote for them."

David Certner, legislative policy director for the AARP, said the country got into its debt mess not because of older Americans but because of Washington's out-of-control spending.

"The problem we're in today was caused by things we've done in the last two years, in particular engaging in two wars that haven't been paid for in any way, shape or form -- as well as the fact that we've had a significant drop in revenues partly as a result of our changes in the tax laws," he said.

Certner added that it's the rising health care costs that should worry all Americans.

"Health care costs are burdening people right now who are trying to pay for it. ... We need to get the whole health care cost problem under control, because it really does put a crimp on the rest of the economy," he said. "People who are working now are probably seeing their wages go up slower because more of their money is going to health care costs."

And that's something 23-year-old Jordan Balkin is finding out, at least when it comes to how much comes out of her paycheck for entitlement programs.

"It's a little less than 1%. But when you add it up, it's about $100, which would be nice to use towards other things, especially not knowing if I will get a chance to see that money in the future," said Balkin, who works in social media in Washington.

As for whether she's worried about her own retirement, Balkin -- part of what's described as generation Y -- said she can only hope that some of the money will be returned. For now, it's all about the present.

"I just keep thinking about saving for the near future when I want to have a family, buy a house," she said. "I mean, there is that offhand dream that I'll win the lottery -- hey, someone's got to be a winner."

A great post by Norm Farrell on his Northern Insights/Perceptivity Blog

I like Norm's insight and ideas on politics in BC and I thought this Blog reflects an accurate picture of what Gordo has done to BC.  His first paragraph is below:

During the Liberal years, Gordon Campbell remade British Columbia. While the provincial economy grew, the fortunes of ordinary people declined, for the first extended period ever. Beneficiaries of change had demanded redistribution of wealth to the disadvantage of all but a few. The end result was not incidental or accidental.
I encourage you to read the rest of his thoughts  here

BC Politics

A guy goes into a bar, there's a robot bartender. The robot says, "What will you have?"

The guy says, "Martini."The robot brings back the best martini ever and says to the man, "What's

your IQ?"The guy says, "168."The robot then proceeds to talk about physics, space exploration and

medical technology.


The guy leaves, but he is curious...So he goes back into the bar.

The robot bartender says, "What will you have?"The guy says, "Martini."

Again, the robot makes a great martini gives it to the man and says,

"What's your IQ?"The guy says, "100." The robot then starts to talk about

Nascar, Budweiser and John Deere tractors.


The guy leaves, but finds it very interesting, so he thinks he will try it

one more time.He goes back into the bar.The robot says, "What will you have?"

The guy says, "Martini," and the robot brings him another great martini.

The robot then says, "What's your IQ?"The guy says, "Uh, about 50."

The robot leans in real close and says, "So, you people still happy you

voted for Campbell?

Thoughts on the HST and politics

A old friend of mine that I had not seen in over 40 years came over to visit the other day. He now lives in England and we reconnected through facebook. Social media is an interesting media to explore. We talked of old friends, caught up on each others life stories and reconnected in a pleasant and meaningful manner. When we were young we were both involved in the political process and started the first New Democratic Party club at Simon Fraser back in Winter of 1966. He has continued to be involved in the political process and is a high ranking member of his Local Labour Party in London.

I dropped out of being involved in politics both provincial and federal back in the 1970's when I worked  in a local riding and found that the in-fighting and back stabbing that goes on in political parties was not worth my time or energy. I doubt if anything has changed over the years, so I am not ready to give my time or talent to any political party. However, in BC we have a corrupt government that is ignoring the will of the people and corrupt newspapers that print only the conservative/right wing party talking line.  I follow the bloggers on the left who are not afraid to speak up for the truth and I would urge all of you to consider following these people who are the true hero's for the working families of BC.  These bloggers are working hard on your behalf to get the true facts out

The courts have just upheld the right of the people to present the HST petition to the government and that charade will play out while individuals in BC suffer.  The HST has already raised the inflation rate in BC by 2% yet on Global TV this morning on the Business news Sophie asked Campbell a soft question, about inflation and used the national number of 1.8%. It is what is not reported that shows the biases of the media.

The following is from this site The HST Blog, I encourage you to read it as it gives some interesting twists on how this tax works.

Gratuities as Added Consideration For the Supply

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Cyndee Todgham Cherniak

I was at an event last night hosted by Women's Post and a woman entrepreneur in the audience who was in the events planning business in Ontario asked why harmonized sales tax (HST) was charged being charged on gratuities (she had noticed this since the implementation of HST). She noticed that venues and caterers were quoting (1) the charge for the room and/or (2) the food/beverages and (3) a mandatory gratuity and that HST was being charged on all charges, including the gratuity.

The answer is that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) considers the mandatory gratuity to be extra consideration for the supply (say, of the venue.food/beverages/etc) rather than a contribution towards the salary (non-taxable) of the employees that will be working the event. The CRA had taken this position with the goods and services tax (GST). GST/HST is payable on the consideration for the supply and since the gratuity is considered by the CRA to be additional consideration, it goes into the calculation/formula. As a result, the CRA takes the position that GST/HST is payable on the added consideration that is the gratuity portion.

I have seen the same analysis used by CRA when they look at gratuities paid on restaurant meals, resort vacation packages, hair salon services, spa services, etc - whenever there is a mandatory gratuity OR when the gratuity is included in credit card payment (that is the recipient pays adds a gratuity to a credit card payment). For example, when I go to the hair salon, I pay by VISA. Before I indicate my PIN number when I use my chip card, I am asked whether I wish to add a tip or gratuity and I usually add 15%-20% of the tax-excluded price for the services rendered. The CRA when auditing such service providers/venues, adds the gratuity amounts to the consideration for the services and calculates the GST/HST owing.


Based on the cases I have seen, often the service provider does not charge the GST/HST on the gratuity portion and has to dip into their pockets to pay a substantial assessment.


The morale of the story is that when possible, recipients should give waitresses/waiters and service providers cash tips when they are adding an amount to the bill for the exceptions services performed by the individual to the recipient. If the gratuities are in the invoices or in the credit card payments 13/113 of the amount in Ontario (12/112 in BC, 15/115 in NS, 113/113 in Nfld/Lab. and NB) will not go to the waitress/service provider and will be remitted to the Receiver General of Canada. This is unfortunate because the individuals affected are making low hourly wages and rely on the gratuities as employment income (to make ends meet).

I have been involved in structuring the payments so that more money goes to the real people who work very hard for the additional employment income - it is possible if a business plans in advance of the CRA visit.

I was not aware of the above and when I have gone out, I have tipped using my credit card, I will not do that any more and I recommend that you do not either. When the time for recall comes in November remember the lies and sign that petition.

Food for Thought...

Some musings on a wonderful BC day,

Let's put the seniors in jail, and the criminals in a nursing home.

That way the seniors would have access to showers, hobbies, and walks, they'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment , wheel chairs etc. and they'd receive money instead of paying it out.

They would also have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly ,if they fell, or needed assistance. Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.

A guard would check on them every 20 minutes, and bring their meals and snacks to their cell. They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose. They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counseling, pool, and education. Simple clothing , shoes, slippers, P.J.'s and legal aid would be free, on request. Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard ,with gardens.

Each senior could have a P.C. a T.V. radio, and daily phone calls. There would be a board of directors , to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct, that would be strictly adhered to.

The "criminals" would get cold food, be left all alone, and unsupervised. lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week. Live in a tiny room, and pay $5000.00 per month and have no hope of ever getting out. Justice for all.

Thoughts on the environment

Today on my thought for the day  from my  Buddhist readings I read:

It is our earth, not yours or mine or his. We are meant to live on it, helping each other, not destroying each other. - J. Krishnamurti...

As I read the stories of the disaster that is shaping up in the Gulf I think these words have some meaning, I know there will be quick to lay blame and take up the rally that the people responsible should be punished. There will be time for authorities to investigate latter now is the time for people to help.

In BC the government of the day appears to be at least thinking of allowing oil rigs off the North Coast, and perhaps this is a wake up call to them to not move in that directions. In BC there appears to have been an abandonment of the principles of environmental stewardship by both the Federal and the Provincial governments. We have fish farming that appears to write checks to support the government in power so they can ignore the science and destroy our wild fisheries. We have companies who support the government apparently being given free reign in the run of rivers hydro projects that are destroying local rivers and wild live to sell power to our southern neighbours. We have Can West Global Media that controls the Major newspapers in BC and most of the local papers as well as one of the three major TV stations that does not appear to report anything that is anti-government so the majority of the public in BC are not aware of many of the major issues. The Blogs that I read and recommend to you are helping to set the record straight, but I am not a political blogger, I will leave that to the passionate people who I have linked to here.  Boomers took on challenges and fought hard to build a more compassionate society. Over time we became complacent and focused on the task of consuming not caring about others. As our society goes through the normal economic cycles of boom and bust, we are becoming more fearful and as we do we forget what we, at one time stood for. I am hopeful that the boomers will start to reconsider their consumption and start to reconnect to the values we held true in our youth. When we do, look out, we will come back with a roar:-)

Dentists, Health Care, Pension and other thoughts

I went for my three month dental check-up and cleaning this morning. I always wonder why Dentists and Dental Hygienists talk to you when your mouth is full. But the process was easy and we (she) talked about the Olympics, the tolling of the Fraser River crossings and the new Port Mann Bridge. Interesting how some people need to walk a fine line about expressing their opinion and not seeming to be politically on one side or the other.

I watched part of the MSNBC special on Baby Boomers last night and thought, the media is finally catching on that this generation is reaching a stage in life that requires a focus on health care and issues around this. The special dealt with the American situation and their problems with Health Care. In Canada, we have issues with Pension reform. The neo-conservative governments in BC and Ottawa are still strong believes in the trickle down theory of Economics that did not work in the 80's and will not work today. The government in BC is using its political majority to force closure on the debate of the HST. Boomers who are retired and who are trying to save for retirement will be two groups that will hurt by this tax. Boomers learned how to protest in the 60's against perceived or real injustices and as the governments fiddle around with not moving fast enough on pension reform and putting in place consumption taxes, the Boomers are starting to reawaken their skill sets on how to protest. This next few years will be very interesting in the world of politics if the politicians don't understand that Boomers have all of the power and have had for the last 65 years. We are a force that shapes society now and our needs are those that need to be paid attention to and those who don't understand this will loose their power.