More OAS debate

The Illusory Savings of Hiking the Age of Eligibility for OAS, Posted by Andrew Jackson on March 27th, 2012

Former Assistant Chief Statistician Michael Wolfson shows that governments collectively stand to save very little from hiking the age of eligibility for the OAS/GIS.

The math (based on the SPSDM):

In 2011, cutting OAS/GIS from seniors age 65 and 66 would save the federal government $4 Billion.

However, the feds lose $500 million and the provinces $300 million in personal income tax revenues  (since benefits are taxable.)

Plus there is a $300 Million loss in sales and similar indirect tax revenues due to reduced purchasing power,  $200 Million of which would be at the provincial level.

Plus – assuming no increase in employment income and no accelerated draw down on savings – poverty rates for the age group would double, forcing many on to social assistance and increasing other provincial program expenditures.

If the feds cushioned that blow to low income seniors and the provinces by preserving access to the GIS for the most vulnerable seniors “the net effect on the fiscal balances of both levels of government combined – what ultimately matters to taxpayers and the economy – would be essentially nil.”

Happy Independance Day to my US friends

For my friends in the United States, have a safe, responsible, but exciting celebration of your Independance day. 


For all of us I think we need to be reminded of what the US declaration of Independence said and why those words inspired many other countries to act, so here it is the complete text of the Declaration of Independence. Source:  http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/doi/text.html
The original spelling and capitalization have been retained.


(Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776)

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.


We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. 


Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. 


The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.


He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.


He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.


He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.


He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.


He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.


He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.


He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.


He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.


He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.


He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.


He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.


He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.


He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.


He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.


He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.


He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.


He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.


In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.


We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.


New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776

Seniors vs Boomers

 The following is from http://www.americanretiredseniors.com/inspiration-and-humor/yes-i-am-a-senior-citizen/  with my notes in italics


Senior citizens and Boomers are constantly being criticized for every conceivable deficiency of the modern world, real or imaginary. We know we take responsibility for all we have done and do not blame others.(We can agree Boomers and seniors both take responsibility for all we have done)


HOWEVER, upon reflection, we would like to point out that it was the Boomers  not the senior citizens who took

• The melody out of music
• The pride out of appearance
• The courtesy out of driving
• The romance out of love
• The commitment out of marriage
• The responsibility out of parenthood
• The togetherness out of the family
• The learning out of education
• The service out of patriotism
• The Golden Rule from rulers
• The refinement out of language
• The dedication out of employment
• The prudence out of spending
• The ambition out of achievement or
• Christ out of Christianity

The list above helps define the difference between Boomers and Seniors, in that Boomers believe  that:

The melody is still in our music, (listen to Yesterday or Imagine or Fire and Rain or  Counry Roads to name a few)

We still take pride in our appearance, (From Botox to designer jeans, the Baby Boomers seem ready, willing, and able to take advantage of products that will allow them to hold onto their identities for as long as possible)

Courtesy is still possible when driving, (We are not in that much of a hurry anymore so we yield to the young who are still in a hurry to get from point A to point B )

Romance and love are strong, (Many of us are single, but look at the dating sites for Boomers and there are hundreds of them, so we are still looking for the romance of love we felt when we were young)

The commitment out of marriage, ( I have many Boomer friends who are still with their significant other after 30 or 40 years)

We hold the responsibility of parenthood as paramount in our life--(look to the number of boomers who have children who have returned home in this recession)

Togetherness is still part of the family, (Our children, grandchildren and siblings may be separated by geography, so we take to email, twitter, facebook and other social networks to stay in touch in large numbers-According to the latest research, the Baby Boomers using social media has increased enormously in 2010

learning is done through education, (Boomers continue to learn and colleges and universities are being encouraged to adapt to the growing number of Boomers who are going back to school)

The service out of patriotism, (As boomers retire they continue to volunteer and engage others who are in need and we continue to value and support our country if it is doing the just and right things, if our country is not doing the right and just things as patriots we must take steps to correct the path the country is taking)

The dedication out of employment, (Boomers believe in working hard, but we do not believe the corporation or others will take care of us, we have to take care of ourselves which means that we are dedicated employees but we continue to put ourselves and our families first, not the corporation or employer first)

spending is important to keep the economy afloat

achievement and ambition are important but that both need to be weighed against family values.

Christ is still in Christianity but that organized religion is not for us (Close to half of all Baby Boomers have dumped their affiliations with organized religion.)

And we still believe that patience, tolerance, or that ‘all men are created equal’ and ‘liberty and justice for all’ from families, personal relationships and interactions with others is important!

We do understand the meaning of patriotism, and remember those who have fought and died for our country; all races, all creeds, and all immigrants for which we all are.

Both Seniors and Boomers support Social Security and Medicare in our golden years.
YES, I’M A BOOMER !

• I’m the life of the party
• I’m smiling all the time not because I can’t hear a thing you’re saying but because I believe life is great.
• I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

And both Boomer and Seniors

• are having the time of their life!

Spread the laughter, share the cheer; let’s be happy while we’re here!

Rituals for Daily Living! Kickstart your summer

In his  Mortality Manifesto,  Patrick Mathieu wrote: "I always strive to ensure that my every thought, word and action is moving me in the direction of my dreams." If you do this often enough, it becomes a habit - a way of being for you. You don't need to think about it anymore because it's just who you are.

In my opinion, one of the best ways to consciously install a habit is to elevate it beyond simply an action or behaviour that you perform automatically, by creating the action as a ritual that you intentionally perform with a sense of purpose.

He introduced his latest project, a collaboration with Rev. Angelica Taggart, which I thought was worthwhile and so I am sharing it with you.

Rituals For Daily Living

Please check out the site and let us know (by commenting on the rituals) what you think.  There's a place for you to share your own rituals. And - it would be great if you could SHARE the site with others. Help us spread the word!