[uujudy]

This article was in our local newspaper yesterday. (I hope you all don't think it belongs in the Political Forum! It's meant to be funny, in a serious way) I asked the author if I could share his copyrighted article with all you TOTVers, and this is what he said:

"wow, thanks. The Standard-Examiner's policy is that we don't mind you using our stuff as long as (a) it is not for commercial use and (b) you give us credit. So, if your forum is non-profit or just sharing stuff around, and you say "This column in the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Utah, by that amazing Charles Trentelman (grin) is just teriffic!" you should be covered.

thanks

charlie"
Are we getting older? Yes, and you better be nice to us

OK, I’m ticked. We’ve got yet another census bureau report on how Baby Boomers are aging, with the usual doom and gloom about how, when people like me retire, we’ll overwhelm medical services, suck Social Security dry and bring down the nation in a hail of shuffle board poles and mahjong tiles.
Phooey.
I can say that because being 59 makes me old by some measures, but so what?
You young people used to be healthy, but now obese 30- and 40-year-olds are doing just as much damage to the health care system as my age group. Priced stomach banding lately? The ballooning cost of Type 2 diabetes? Makes joint replacement look cheap. Baby boomers are one of the healthiest ever to occupy their age group. I and my cycling buddies, both 10 years my senior, can ride your butts off. Two ibuprofen and I’m good for 50 miles. Try to keep up. Second, about Social Security. You 30- to 50-year-olds who claim I’m about to bankrupt Social Security overlook one point: Every one of you has parents older than I am who, most likely, are already collecting Social Security.
Who’s been funding their checks? Me, the 59-year-old employed guy.
Has even one of you “privatize Social Security!” screamers gone to your mom, wrestled the Social Security check from her wrinkled hands and torn it up?
No. You let her cash it. You let me help pay for your mom, but you don’t want to help pay for me.
You want my sympathy? Quit trying to have it both ways. Cancel your parents’ Social Security and pay for their needs out of your own pocket.
Third, seniors aren’t trashing the economy.
A recent New York Times series on debt said 41 percent of families in the 65 to 74 age group are debt-free. A whopping 60 percent of families older than that are.
Old people are debt-free because they didn’t spend the last 30 years buying every new toy on the market, homes they couldn’t afford and cars that require attached oil wells to drive around the block.
The whiners who say old folks will bankrupt the economy are already broke. A pathetic 11 percent of the 35-44 age group — the group most likely to be foreclosed on — have no debt.
Which is better for an economy, people who are broke or people who have money?
The broke people want to do away with Social Security because it’s the only pool of money they haven’t pillaged yet, but those people have the financial acumen of mashed potatoes.
Who else would borrow against an overvalued house they couldn’t afford, blow the wad on flat screen TVs, iPods and recreational vehicles and then act surprised when told they have to pay back the money?
Social Security keeps your mom and dad from having to move in with you, so suck it up and pay what it takes. A little sacrifice is good for you. Builds character.
Anyway, you’ll never get that change through Congress. Along with squandering your money, you young people have some of the lowest voting totals this country has ever seen.
Older folks vote all the time. Voters run things and, yes, I’ll be riding my bicycle to the polls.
Try to keep up.
Speaking of senior moments: In my column Tuesday I said the Transcontinental Railroad was finished in 1876.
Where did THAT come from? The correct date was, of course, May 10, 1869. Mea maxima culpa.
Wasatch Rambler is the opinion of Charles Trentelman.You can reach him at 625-4232, or e-mail at ctrentelman@standard. net.