‘Can You Imagine Working Until 70?’ Congressional Republicans Think That’s OK

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/08/16/can-you-imagine-working-until-70-congressional-republicans-think-thats-ok/

by Tula Connell, Aug 16, 2010

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPtcc_2I-HY&feature=player_embedded

Republican Rep. John Boehner from Ohio says if his party took over Congress in the fall elections, it would raise the Social Security eligibility age to 70. Sharron Angle, Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada, said Social Security should be phased out.

As Social Security turned 75 in recent days, the nation’s most successful safety net is under attack as never before.

Writing at Huffington Post, Barbara Easterling, president of the Alliance for Retired Americans, asks: “Can you imagine working until 70?”

In jobs like construction, manufacturing, and the service sector, I just don’t see how you can. A study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research showed that 45 percent of workers age 58 to 69 are in physically demanding jobs. And in a tough labor market, who would hire someone in their late 60s?

In fact, without Social Security, 19.8 million more Americans would be poor, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). Without Social Security, 45.2 percent of older Americans would have incomes below the poverty line. With Social Security, only 9.7 are poor. CBPP’s Paul Van de Water and Arloc Sherman reminds us that Social Security isn’t only for retired folks:

Social Security lifts more than 1 million children out of poverty.

More children and elderly living in poverty doesn’t seem to bother the likes of Boehner. He’s too busy playing golf at the ritzy clubs he belongs to when he’s not relaxing in his gated community.

[SoCalNative]

1. I can't imagine working until 62 or 65

and even that's at least 15 years away..no thanks! As soon as I can I'm throwing in the working towel for good.

[Nay]

5. Me, too. In 3 yrs, when I turn 62, I'm outta there. 66? 70? They

gotta be kidding. I have a desk job and have developed tennis elbow and tendinitis/carpal tunnel from the damn computer. It'll take my hands a year to recover. And mine isn't a 'physical' job!

[MichiganVote]

2. When I can be a Congressional Welfare Queen too its ok with me.

[femmocrat]

3. I never expected to still be working at my age.

I thought I would be able to retire at age 55. I was wrong. :(

[sandnsea]

4. We need to get our FICA money back

The $13 trillion debt needs to be reduced, not social security.

[NC_Nurse]

6. If I had their job, yes. Not at my job.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

7. Heard this question posed on NPR. Answer?

At 50 or 60, quit your physically demanding job, retrain for a less demanding job, then go and job-hunt and find a new job. AT 50 OR 60....WHO is going to hire you? WHO wants to be retraining in a new field at 50-60+ years old? Nobody.

HOW REALISTIC is that?

It isn't.

But - that was the ONLY answer they had.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. I'm a 59 year old Sheet metal worker

If you think for a minute that you can strap on 50 lbs of tools and climb up and down a ladder (Think Stairmaster) for eight hours a day, at my age, good fucking luck! My body is worn out! I can't do it anymore and I sure as hell can't do it for seven more years. I challenge any of the orange people to try to keep up with me for ONE DAY. They have no idea what hard work is really like. On the other hand, I could probably play Golf every other day without too much problem as long as I had a cart.

[Ernesto]

9. I'm a Sheet Metal Worker that well retired when I was 57.

That is of course because I am a UNION man.
The only time we ever listened to st. ronnie was when he said "take care of yourselves".
We did by raising our hourly retirement contributions from then on. The contractors made plenty in the next decades and we working folks banked the $$ in our OWN fund. That way, the $$$ was/is still there.

[customerserviceguy]

10. The service sector?

Maybe if you're talking about retail, where you have to stand on your feet for eight hours a day, but most service sector employees (myself included) get to sit on our butts in a chair.

I sure hope that if there are any changes in the retirement age for full benefits, those who do hard physical labor are exempted from those changes, I surely sympathize with those who have to work hard for a living. Asking me to spend a few more years in my cushy seat answering phone calls is nothing compared to what a lot of people have to do to get by in their jobs.