Obama’s Reverse Robin Hood

In case you haven’t heard, because the federal government’s cost of living indicators are showing slight deflation, there will be no cost of living increase for Social Security recipients next year. Of course, seniors vote in large numbers and are a politically-powerful voting bloc, so as soon as word came down that there would be no COLA, spineless members of Congress and President Obama started looking for ways to give seniors money anyway.

It appears that they have settled on $250 payments to the more than 50 million seniors on Social Security for no good reason. On top of all the other deficits including those we already face for Social Security, this is a $12.5 billion in debt that will be placed on the backs of America’s children and grandchildren.

The dirty little secret here is that senior citizens as a group actually are the wealthiest segment of society. Back in 2002, Indeed, the average net worth of seniors age 65-74 was $146,000, while the average net worth of Americans under age 35 was a mere $9,900. With the addition of the prescription drug benefit under President Bush, this disparity has only grown.

Seniors and the rest of Americans should unite in opposing this $250 transfer from the poor to the rich.