ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 20, 1996 TAG: 9608200042
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
BILL CLINTON, the baby boomer president, has turned 50. Most commentary has noted, rightly so, his exploitation of the event over the weekend to raise money for his re-election campaign.
But the milestone deserves attention for another reason. It should remind us that the retirement years of Clinton's generation are drawing closer. Of this fact, we're not getting enough reminders now.
The prospect of 76 million members of the post-World War II generation entering the ranks of the retired ought to be concentrating minds wonderfully. Like someone who has passed the half-century mark, the nation ought to have begun planning for retirement.
Instead, leaders of both major political parties have virtually ignored a gathering demographic avalanche that threatens to overwhelm the federal budget and wreck the economy if action isn't taken.
Demography may not be destiny, but it's pretty close. People are living longer. In 1900, one American in 25 was 65 or older. By the time baby boomers retire, one in six Americans will be 65 or older. In the decade after the first post-war workers leave the labor force in 2008, the retired population will swell by nearly 30 percent. These facts have implications regardless of our interest in confronting them.
The fiscal implications, in particular, are huge. Last year, 40 percent of non-interest federal spending went to entitlements for older people, mostly Social Security and Medicare. According to a projection last year by a national, bipartisan commission, entitlements by the year 2030 - absent reform - "will consume all tax revenues collected by the federal government."
Add the interest that would have to be paid on the national debt to cover these mandatory spending requirements, and the year when there would be no money to pay for anything else - defense, education, environmental protection, whatever - moves up to 2012.
Of course, the longer reform is put off, the harsher will be its effects. Any number of steps could be taken, including accelerated increase of the retirement age; an adjustment in annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security (they're now higher than actual inflation); and a sliding scale for Medicare premiums, based on household income. What's indisputable is the need to do something.
Effective leaders, if we had them, would be helping the nation plan for baby boomers' retirements. A civic-minded citizenry, with children and grandchildren in mind, would be demanding such planning from their representatives.
Instead, President Clinton and the Democrats have cynically aroused fears of Medicare cuts to gain short-term political advantage over the Republicans. And Bob Dole offers budget-breaking tax cuts on the assumption that voters will jump at the opportunity to take the money and run.
The guiding philosophy seems to be: Celebrate today, and never mind the future. It's not a sustaining creed.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB