writes: "For the most part, the selfish elders who reject health care reform are the younger siblings of the WWII generation and the elder siblings of the boomers -- the so-called "Silent Generation.""

Let's see -

Somebody born in 1929 was too young to fight in WW2. Somebody born in 1944 is 65 today. So we're talking the 1929-1944 folks, roughly.

Mary S. "This is an extremely fortunate generation that entered adulthood in an incredible post-war boom era supported by a highly progressive tax system that worked uniquely to their benefit; their affluent elders' willingness to tax themselves at very high rates allowed for unprecedent government investment in their economic future while requiring them to pay very little if any taxes themselves."

Yep. They were the teenagers of the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. They had another big factor in their favor: small cohort size due to low birthrates during the Depression and WW2. Less competition for schools and jobs from others their own age.

Mary S. :"Unlike the generations before and after them, they were also not asked to sacrifice their lives or delay the start of their economic future by fighting in any foreign wars."

WRONG!

Have you forgotten the Korean War and the Vietnam War? Males born in the early 1930s were in prime draft age during the shooting part of the Korean conflict, and males born in the mid 1940s were in prime draft age during the early part of Vietnam.

Both of those were foreign wars IIRC. Many were not "asked", unless you consider being drafted as being "asked". The draft didn't end until the 1970s.

Mary S.: "They successfully sought to make taxes less progressive (and therefore more of a burden on younger people just beginning their economic lives). They also made it clear they resented, and would not tolerate, any but the most meager and selfish investment in social, cultural and material infra-structure, etc. They kind of investment that had been made in their own economic lives in their own youth. They are Reagan's army."

Sure there are seniors like that - but they are not *just* seniors. Lots of younger folks thought and voted the same way, including some too young to have ever voted for Reagan.

The people to blame are those who sold us that whole bag of trickle-down, supply-side nonsense in the first place.

Mary S. "The American generation given the most generous ride their entire lives -- who yet have always found the suggestion that they might owe anything to others outrageous."

I don't think you can categorize entire generations that way. It's like saying all boomers went to Woodstock or took LSD.

The REAL issue is the feeling of insecurity, of "gotta hang on to everything I've got because there isn't enough to go around" and such. That's the big driving force.

Imagine a person in their mid-70s whose worked hard and paid taxes all their lives. They managed to retire a few years ago through a combination of savings, SS, etc. Nothing lavish but the person is comfortable, sort of.

At that age there are many things to worry about, such as inflation depleting their savings, changes to the neighborhood that could make their home too dangerous to live in and too worthless to sell, or too gentrified to keep, their kids needing help, and worst of all their health going bad. We'd all like to die peacefully in our sleep but that doesn't always happen.

How do you think such a person would react to hearing about a plan that would negatively impact Medicare in any way? Particularly when coverage of some things, such as dental and prescriptions, is already inadequate or nonexistent?

That the plan wouldn't do that is beside the point.

A lot of folks think just that way: that they paid into the system for decades, so now they deserve to get back benefits. Married women who worked at home paid in because their husbands paid in. And they're right, up to a point.

The problem is that, because of inflation, it doesn't take too many years before someone now collecting benefits takes out more than they paid in over the years, including interest. That's because, for many years, the payments were quite small and the cap was low.

Some folks receiving benefits simply don't understand this. (When you have people who don't know that Medicare is a government program, and financial commentators who don't know that it's only for senior citizens, that's not a surprise!). Others do understand it, but aren't going to upset the apple cart.

There's a lot of emotion tied up in all this too. Ten dollars isn't much today, but in 1959 ten dollars was quite a bit of money. So the senior who put in ten dollars per paycheck back in 1959 doesn't remember the exact amount; s/he remembers the feeling of how much ten dollars was in 1959, and wants the amount of money today that feels the same as ten dollars felt in 1959. Or more, since it feels as if the govt. has had the money for fifty years.

The problem is, reality doesn't care how someone feels.