- How Tyranny Came to America -

...none of the delegated powers of Congress -- and delegated is always the key word -- covers Social Security, or Medicaid, or Medicare, or federal aid to education, or most of what are now miscalled "civil rights," or countless public works projects, or equally countless regulations of business, large and small, or the space program, or farm subsidies, or research grants, or subsidies to the arts and humanities, or ... well, you name it, chances are it's unconstitutional. Even the most cynical opponents of the Constitution would be dumbfounded to learn that the federal government now tells us where we can smoke. We are less free, more heavily taxed, and worse governed than our ancestors under British rule. Sometimes this government makes me wonder: Was George III really all that bad?

Friends of Liberty 6/29

- Social Security: Bad for the Democrats -

"Representative" Wexler seems focused on preserving the legacy and structure of Social Security, which he calls "the most successful government program in history." ...He has proposed the largest marginal tax increase this country has seen in decades: a 6 percent tax hike on all income over the current $90,000 payroll tax cap...Bringing the system into solvency through tax hikes on labor and productivity will do untold damage to America's economic growth.

Reason 6/29

- 9-11 AND SOCIAL SECURITY -

In the summer of 2001, we were further ahead on the Social Security issue than we are today....It all started around noon on June 19, 2001 , when the somewhat reticent Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neill delivered a luncheon speech to the Coalition for Financial Security in the Sky Room of the World Trade Center .

Ether Zone 6/28

- Elder abuse case against Napa home moving slowly -

Criminal defense attorneys have slowed the pace of a case against the owner of a troubled Napa nursing home, providing an inside peek into the complexity of an unusual federal elder abuse investigation.

NapaNews 6/28

- From the Socialist Viewpoint - Undoing the New Deal -

The Social Security 'crisis' began on cue as George W. Bush started his second term. That was no accident. A new book explores the unseen people and unspoken philosophy behind what could be a long

LA Times 6/28

- In Effort to Pare Medicaid, Long-Term Care Is Focus -

Lawmakers, health policy experts and stakeholders in the long-term-care industry are rushing forward with proposals to remove from the Medicaid rolls people who are not poor by standard definitions, but who rather have exhausted a lifetime of resources or used legal strategies to give their money away.

New York Times 6/27

- Subsidizing Sickness -

Thus spake Mises. He is observing that there is a moral hazard associated with socialized and subsidized medicine. Because there is no clear line between sickness and health, and where you stand on the continuum is bound up with individual choice, the more medical services are provided by the state as a part of welfare, the more the programs reinforce the conditions that bring about the need to make use of them. This one insight helps explain how socialized medicine takes away the incentive to be healthy, and maximizes the problem of overutilization of resources. Hence, socialized medicine must fail for the same reasons all socialism must fail: it offers no system for rationally allocating resources, and instead promotes overutilization of all resources, ending in bankruptcy.

Rockwell 6/26

- Social Security This Week: June 24, 2005 -

Republican Senators Unite behind Reform Bill, House Republicans Offer a Surplus-Funded Accounts Bill, Key Differences between House and Senate Accounts Bills

Cato 6/26

- Americans need simpler way to save for future -

Social Security reform that carves out private accounts has about as much political traction as a bald tire in quicksand....The USA would be a consolidation of all other retirement accounts such as 401(k)s, SEPs, SIMPLEs and Roths. Rules can be simplified and administration costs decreased for employers.

Ventura County News 6/26

- 10 things to ask yourself about your retirement -

But for myriad reasons, retirement has become a highly complicated and unnerving endeavor. Many retirees can no longer rely on a monthly pension check from their former employer. Health care costs are skyrocketing. And even boomers who managed to accumulate a decent amount of savings have to figure out how to make that money last for many years.

QCTimes 6/26

- Solvency still the key for Social Security -

After trying, and so far falling, to generate a ground swell of public support for personal accounts, President Bush has signaled his backing of a Social Security reform measure to be introduced by a Republican senator that doesn't contain a provision for workers investing in stocks and bonds.

PennLive 6/24

- American Communist Party View on Social Security -

Report to the National Committee, Communist Party USA January 29, 2005. It was FDR, signer of the Social Security Act, who rallied the nation around the Four Freedoms. Social Security and unemployment insurance were part of that – a social contract between the government and the working people for some kind of economic security.

Communist Pary USA 6/24

- Economic Aspects of the Pension Problem -

Whenever a law or labor union pressure burdens the employers with an additional expenditure for the benefit of the employees, people talk of “social gains.” The idea implied is that such benefits confer on the employees a boon beyond the salaries or wages paid to them and that they are receiving a grant which they would have missed in the absence of such a law or such a clause in the contract. It is assumed that the workers are getting something for nothing....This view is entirely fallacious.

Mises 6/24

- Entitlement Programs and Healthy Emotional Adjustment -

In order to have a good personality adjustment one must be well balanced between his good emotional adjustment and his good social adjustment.

ELF 6/24

- Cologne: Educated, Active and Elderly -

For decades, German society has been guided by the idea of a Generationenvertrag, or inter-generational contract. The concept is simple: Young people in the workforce finance the pensions of the older generation, with the expectation that future generations will do the same for them. But that expectation may soon be unsustainable.

Forbes 6/23

- New Social Security Plan Diminishes Personal Accounts -

"After watching the Social Security debate from the sidelines, House Republican leaders yesterday embraced a new approach to Social Security restructuring that would add individual investment accounts to the program, but on a much smaller scale than the Bush administration favors...

Cato 6/23

- What is the biggest problem facing the urban elderly? -

Health Care | Housing | Mobility | Social Isolation | Depression | Poverty | Food - Take the Poll!

Forbes 6/23

- More Companies Froze, Terminated Pension Plans in 2004, Watson Wyatt Analysis Finds -

The rate at which large companies froze or terminated their defined benefit pension plans accelerated sharply last year even as the average funding level for plans continued to increase, according to a new analysis by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a leading human capital consulting firm.

Yahoo 6/22

- The End Of Pensions -

In the future, will any company offer a pension? The answer is probably not, and the future is getting closer all the time.

Forbes 6/22

- Passage of Long Term Care and Retirement Security Act Vital to Boosting Americans’ Ability to Save, Prepare for Retirement -

“It is more important than ever to provide individuals with the tools and resources necessary to take control of their own retirement and healthcare needs,”

AHCA 6/22

- Helping senior citizens get around -

There are plenty of things that can be done to make Westchester's roads safer for senior citizen drivers, and to help them drive longer and more safely. At the same time, because most people outlive their ability to drive by eight to 10 years, experts say, bus systems must do more to entice senior citizens to climb on board.

Journal News 6/22

- Emancipate younger workers from Social Security before it goes bust -

One side wants to do nothing, the other side advocates reform....The AARP wants nothing to do with private accounts because it's afraid private accounts might take money out of the system. It would rather hike taxes or increase the retirement age....President Bush is at least telling the truth. Social Security, no doubt, is on a course to crash and burn.

Orange County Register 6/22

- AARP makes points on Social Security -

To be clear, AARP is opposed to the president's proposal on progressive price indexing because it would represent a body blow to the middle class.

Globe Gazette 6/21

- Unraveling the myths of suicide pact cases -

When an elderly spouse — usually the husband — kills his ailing mate and then himself, the public perception is often that the homicide-suicide was committed out of love, with mutual knowledge and consent....The husbands in such cases are often abusers, and the wives are rarely complicit. In many such cases, defense wounds indicate that the wife fought for her life...Murder-suicides involving elderly couples have been relatively uncommon, but may be on the rise due to the aging of the population and the fact that more older people are living with serious disabilities, driving caregivers to despair and desperation.

Home News Tribune 6/20

- The Animating Principle Of The 21st Century -

The 20th. Century’s energizing dynamic was totalitarian socialism. Leading that parade were proponents like Stalin and Communist Russia, Hitler and his National Socialist Party, China’s Chairman Mao and a host of lesser lights like Saddam Hussein in Iraq. All preached the equality of outcomes for their people despite their own personal power-hungry obsessions. All seduced the world with their “humanity” that no one should paid more for their work than any other. They all preached a socialism that elevated the group at the expense of the individual...if people are made aware of the concept of privatizing Social Security and not misled by Democrats and the mainstream media into believing the lies the Democrats are using to defeat privatization before it gets any traction.

Blogger News 6/20

- Social Security This Week: June 17, 2005 -

DeMint Plan Shakes Things Up on the Hill, Cato Scholars Testify Before Congress, Mike Pence: Don't Raise the Payroll Tax

Cato Institute 6/18

- Different Strokes -

Signs of mortality

Sobran 6/18

- Senators Consider Boosting Retirement Age -

Work till you're 69 before getting full Social Security benefits?

WFMY 6/17

- Looming Retirement 'Makes People Stressed and Depressed' -

More than 1.5 million people who are due to retire over the coming 18 months admit they feel stressed and depressed about the prospect, research showed today.About 40% of people who are planning to retire in 2005 or 2006 said they felt apprehensive about the future, while 36% said they were anxious, according to insurance giant Prudential.

Scotsman 6/17

- Long- Term Care: White House Conference on Aging -

Better use of public money, work with private sector stakeholders, fund training for LTC.

White House 6/16

- Actuaries Say Changing Retirement Age Would Improve Social Security Solvency -


Ron Gebhardtsbauer, the senior pension fellow of the American Academy of Actuaries, today told Congress that an additional raising of the normal retirement age would reduce the Social Security solvency shortfall by approximately 36 percent.

Yahoo News 6/15

- Letters | Social Security: A solution -


In 1993, President Clinton successfully moved to increase taxes on Social Security benefits. In effect, this cut those benefits for many seniors whose only crime was to have saved and invested over the years or to have continued working past the set retirement age.

Philly News 6/15

- National helpline to combat abuse of the elderly -


“A very common theme to us has been tying people to chairs, even in one case a person was tied using a dog lead. We had heavy tables put across chairs to stop people getting out of them. We had allegations people are being doped sitting in chairs to keep them quiet so they don’t have to worry about staffing levels”

Waterford News 6/14

- Last Call for Seniors to Save $450 With Medicare Prescription Drug Credit, USA -


Seniors and persons with disabilities can still apply for the $450 Medicare prescription drug credit, but time is running short for those who want to receive the full benefit.

Medical News Today 6/14

- Bush-Style Privatization: More and More Problems -


Genuine saving is necessary for net investment. Pension plans funded by true saving are not susceptible to demographic crises, because each retiree's payments are financed out of his or her previous accumulation of capital. The Bush plan claims these benefits because of its superficial emphasis on investment, but unless the government cuts current spending (or sells off government assets to raise revenue) it is a total shell game.

Mises Institute 6/13

- Old seems younger as time goes by -


In 2000, the average American was 35.3 years old, with 43.5 years left to live. Turn back the hands of time to 1960 when the average age was 29.6. Calculations show that they had 43.6 years ahead of them. Sanderson said that "we're not any older in the sense that we have around the same number of years ahead of us than those 29-year-olds in 1960. But we're not behaving like we are 5.7 years older, either."

Newsday 6/13

- Social Security This Week: June 10, 2005 -

Eliminating the Tax Cap Won't Solve Social Security's Shortfall; Prominent Editorials Oppose Tax-Reliant Reform Measures; Media Continue to Ignore Support for Personal Retirement Accounts

Cato 6/13

- Social Security reform linked to longevity -


Americans turning 65 this year can expect to live, on average, until they are 83, four and a half years longer than the typical 65-year-old could expect in 1940. And government actuaries predict that American life spans will keep growing...This demographic trend — by 2040, the average 65-year-old will live to about 85

The State 6/13

- The Welfare State - Bush Profiteering from Housing Defaults -
Preview The ELF Market Economy Solution to Housing

Since he became president the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has spent more than $120 billion. HUD public-housing projects continue to devastate poor neighborhoods. HUD largesse to local governments continues to finance the confiscation and demolition of private homes, and HUD programs continue to spur fraud and corruption around the nation.

FFF 6/10

- S.F. officials say elder abuse common -

According to the executive director of San Francisco's Department of Human Services, it can be very common for the elderly to become involved in a relationship with someone who may take advantage of them.

Elder Abuse Foundation 6/10

- Bush deserves credit for starting Social Security debate -

"The first step toward solving a problem is admitting that a problem exists, and Bush has done that," said Libertarian Party Executive Director Joseph Seehusen. "Now we need to make sure that the American people don't get hoodwinked again by false promises about where their retirement money is going and who controls it."

Cato Institute 6/09

- GOP at Social Security standstill -

After six months of President Bush's campaigning and backroom discussions on Capitol Hill, Republicans are no closer to winning any Democrat cooperation on Social Security. Democrats refuse to negotiate until Mr. Bush takes his private-accounts idea off the table...

Washington Times 6/09

- Longevity crisis? Kill Grandma -

It might start drafting 60-year-olds, for example, for a few months of service in the Iraqi desert. And what about transforming the Drug Enforcement Administration into the Diet Enforcement Administration, with the power to search drivers for stray bits of broccoli and tofu?

Orlando Sentinel 6/09

- Dirty Little Secret: Undocumented Workers Are Saving Social Security -

There is a myth that undocumented workers don’t pay taxes and use services costing the United States billions... A dirty little secret is that undocumented workers not only pay taxes but also contribute to Social Security – and will never collect a dime.

Pacific News 6/08

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- Mistreatment and Harassment of Elders (Elder Abuse) in India -

Mistreatment and Harassment of Elders (Elder Abuse) in India by Sumanth Godly Elder abuse, the mistreatment and torture of of older people, though a manifestation of the timeless phenomenon of inter-personal violence is prevalent in India.

Blogworks 6/07

- An improving record for nursing homes -

Contrary to the negative headlines, three major independent studies in the past year have cited evidence that the quality of care received in nursing homes is, in fact, showing significant signs of improvement:

SFGate 6/07

- Social Security and the Destruction of Capital -

Social security is neither social nor secure. It is not social because the transfer system provokes the very dependency it is said to heal, and it is not secure because the comprehensive modern welfare system undermines economic prosperity. As a coercive system of transfers from the active to the inactive, from the saver to the consumer, and from the producer to government, social security systems have an inherent tendency to destroy the formation and transformation of capital and to inhibit the division of labor.Social security severs the link between savings and investment for the individual and puts both into the hands of government. It is by this mechanism that the illusions of wealth as pseudo-savings are being created.

Mises Institute 6/06

- Living longer creates a crisis in caregiving -

A large percentage of today's home caregivers are seniors themselves. Spending days and nights caring for a loved one -- perhaps a spouse of 50 years -- can take a heavy physical and mental toll on those delivering the care....Moving these individuals into nursing homes is not the answer.

Ventura County News 6/06

- Fear and Rejection -

...policy ideas advocated by American liberals have already been enacted in Europe: generous welfare measures, ample labor protections, highly progressive tax rates, single-payer health care systems, zoning restrictions to limit big retailers, and cradle-to-grave middle-class subsidies supporting everything from child care to pension security. And yet far from thriving, continental Europe has endured a lost decade of relative decline....
Western Europeans seem to be suffering a crisis of confidence. Election results, whether in North Rhine-Westphalia or across France and the Netherlands, reveal electorates who have lost faith in their leaders, who are anxious about declining quality of life

New York Times 6/03

- What the Public Doesn't Know About Social Security, Private Pension Plans and Other Private Retirement Plans -

"Informed citizenship is the first office in a democracy. Yet despite the ongoing public debate about the future of Social Security, the American people remain poorly informed about this vital landmark program, while the Social Security Administration, political leaders, and the Democratic Party -- from which Social Security evolved -- put forth little serious effort into educating the public. Media coverage of the issues has been weak. Furthermore, young people are being inadequately trained to understand public policy issues that prepare them to make informed decisions as adults.

Yahoo 6/03

- What is the cost of a Continuing-Care Retirement Community? -

Continuing-Care Retirement Communities are the most expensive long-term-care solution. Monthly maintenance fees range from $200 to $2500. In addition to the monthly payments, there are buy-in, or entrance, fees that range from $20,000 to $400,000. The fees vary according to whether the resident owns or rents the living space; the size and location of the residence; amenities chosen; whether the living space is for one or two individuals; the type of service plan chosen; and the current risk for needing intensive long-term care.

HelpGuide 6/03

- Assisted Living Costs Vary Widely Across U.S. -

Assisted living in the U.S. costs an average of $2,524 per month, or $30,288 per year, according to the newly released 2004 MetLife Market Survey of Assisted Living Costs. The highest monthly average base cost was reported in Stamford, Connecticut at $4,327 while the lowest was Miami, Florida at $1,340.

Met Life 6/03

- When the Elderly Become Financial Targets -

Though California has some of the strictest elder abuse laws in the country, few cases of financial abuse are actually prosecuted...The financial abuse of elders covers the illegal or improper use of an elder's funds, property or assets. It can include -- but is not limited to: cashing an elderly person's checks without their permission; forging their signature; stealing or misusing their money or possessions; or abusing power of attorney.

NPR 6/02

- Ten Ways To Live Longer -

According to Dr. Howard Friedman, a psychologist at the University of California at Riverside, conscientiousness is related to mortality in a significant way. The Terman Life-Cycle Study, which ran from 1921 to 1991, examined an array of factors like personality, habits, social relations, education, physical activites and cause of death. ..."Those low on adult conscientiousness died sooner

Forbes 6/02

- Abuse of elder alleged -

WOMAN'S MALNOURISHED GRANDMOTHER HOSPITALIZED AFTER BEING LEFT 3 DAYS

An East Palo Alto woman has been charged with abandoning her 92-year-old grandmother, taking out a mortgage on her home and using the funds to buy a Humvee worth more than $60,000

Mercury News 6/02

- The Fiction of Social Security Bonds -

How is Social Security different in kind from any other government program? Charles Rounds argues that it is not different at all. It is a spending program funded out of revenue. It can be abolished anytime....They are not assets.

Mises Institute 6/01

- Aging and mental health -

If Americans were to be honest about it, the current obsession, if not hysteria, over the solvency of pensions, Social Security and the Medicare system reflects more than mere financial concern about the future. It's the sound of personal reckoning on a massive scale: We are going to get older, and we are going to die. In between, we likely will get ill. Our faculties will wane or even fail. We are going to need care. And we are terrified.

The Journal News 6/01

- Living longer creates a crisis in caregiving -

Just after the decade ends, America will come face to face with a societal challenge that threatens to rock our very foundation and, for many of us, seems impossible to believe. The first of our nation's 77 million "baby boomers" -- a generation that has symbolized prosperity and potential for more than half a century -- will be turning 65.

Ventura County Star 6/01

- Social Security Joke -

A retired gentleman went to the social security office to apply for Social Security.

The woman behind the counter asked him for his driver's license to verify his age. He looked in his pockets and realized he had left his wallet at home. He told the woman that he was very sorry but he seemed to have left his wallet at home. "I will have to go home and come back later." The woman says, "Unbutton your shirt." So he opens his shirt revealing curly silver hair. She says, "That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me" and she processed his Social Security application.

When he gets home, the man excitedly tells his wife about his experience at the social security office. She says, "You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability too."

Relationships 6/01

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