Grandpa Conrad

Apologies to My Grandchildren

Fri Aug 1 15:42:52 2003
64.140.158.181

Apologies to My Grandchildren

Author: Grandpa Conrad
Published: The Heartland Institute 08/01/2003
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=12578

Dear Jack, Katie, Luke, Will, Tess, Elle, and Anthony:

My entire generation owes you an apology. But I can speak only for
myself when I say I regret to inform you that you are going to get a
hulk of a tax bill by the time you celebrate your 20th birthday.

I know you are still too young to fully understand, but while you are
having fun chasing bugs and butterflies, the people who make laws in
this country are playing pretend and saying they want to help old folks
pay for some of the medication they take to feel better and live longer.

The very awful thing about this is that your Grandpa and Grandma and
millions like us don’t need this help ... and many of us don’t even
want it. About 75 percent of seniors already get medicine paid for with
Medigap, Medicaid, Medicare+Choice, public assistance, employee
retirement plans, and discount drug programs sponsored by the big
companies who make the drugs.

These lawmakers are called Republicans and Democrats, and they will
soon vote to pass what is called Medicare reform legislation. What all
that really means is the government is going to spend a lot of money
paying for what most seniors can afford to pay for themselves but,
being selfish, would rather have someone else pay for.

That “someone else” includes people like your Mom and Dad. Why should
they have to pay for someone else’s medicine? It’s called a “wealth
transfer,” like you getting two dollars for doing your chores and then
having the big kid next door take one dollar away, leaving you with
only one.

Problem is, as Mom and Dad get older, the taxes they pay won’t be
enough and the money will run out. So, the government will ask you to
start paying the bill, and it will be huge. Right now they say it will
cost $400 billion just to get it up and running.

It Gets Worse

In the 10 years after 2010 the bill will be about $700 billion. Soon
after that, you will have your own careers but you will be so heavily
taxed you may not be able to afford a house or a car. You might not be
able to take a long vacation or raise a family of your own. I’m sorry,
I apologize--but it’s not my idea!

Here’s a little secret, so don’t tell: While seniors make up only 12
percent of the population, we own more than half the financial and real
estate assets in the country. Not only can most seniors afford the
private insurance that pays for drugs, many seniors can even afford to
pay cash. This new Medicare giveaway is not what most of us need. The
money you will pay in taxes to fund it is something you will need in
the future.

Hunting Bugs with a Bazooka

The folks who really need our help are those poor seniors and some very
sick people who cannot help themselves. You all know we should share
our toys and help those with no toys. The same goes for money.

A drug discount card subsidized by government and given to poor seniors
would work to help just the folks who really need it. So would greater
publicity and awareness of all those private-sector drug discount cards
and patient assistance programs. Lots of people don’t even know they
exist.

There is also a very serious mistake in the Medicare drug giveaway.
More than one-third--roughly 37 percent--of senior citizens who have
employer-provided drug insurance will lose it under the current
versions of the Senate or the House plans.

When that happens millions of seniors like Grandpa and Grandma would be
forced to accept government-run Medicare. It is how government gets
people hooked on giveaways so they have to keep voting for more
giveaways. It’s like people who use drugs and can’t stop.

Doughnuts

The new government drug program would stop helping seniors after they
spend a little money, and then start up again after they have spent
lots more money. That has a funny name called the “hole in the
doughnut.” It’s like eating through the outside until you get to the
center and there’s nothing there ... but you are still hungry.

You can help stop this very bad social plan by calling or sending a
letter to the people in Congress telling them to help just those folks
who really need help and stop messing with your future. They will
listen to you because politicians will do anything “for the sake of the
children.”

Tell them this is their chance to prove it.

cc: U.S. House, U.S. Senate the 535 people that let this happen.

• Fierce Watchdog of the Constitution

  — Nat Hentoff, Fri Aug 1 18:04
• 2? — eauxx, Sat Aug 2 08:34
• hard to reform — rainesco, Sat Aug 2 14:12