I am 63 years old.

[SheilaT]

I am still working, and hope to work and not take Social Security until age 70.

I am fortunate enough to be extremely healthy, but I am beyond outraged when I read about the attacks on SS and Medicare. I do have two sons, who might be willing to take me in if necessary, but they have lives of their own. It seems that those who think SS and Medicare have no place in our society, simply don't know anyone who uses either of those. Maybe none of them have mothers. But they are totally wrong if they think we don't need them.

[1620rock]

1. They probably do have mothers but don't give a rat's ass about them.

[DesertFlower]

2. i'm almost 70. became disabled when i was 48.

i was thankful for social security disability. i want the same benefits i got available to everyone. no changes -- no cuts.

[SheilaT]

8. Thank you.

I am amazingly healthy, still drive a stick shift, do head stands every other week or so to make sure I still can do them. I work very hard on remembering that others are not like me. Which I think is what too many conservatives have lost. They tend to think something like: If I don't need this or that service, then nobody else needs it either.


But we are all different. And although I am not conventionally religious, I believe very strongly that we are here to help each other out. Some of us need more help. Those of us who are fully able, need to do what needs to be done.

Here's a small example. I am a non smoker, and I'm able at times to be very down on smokers. But, BUT, I don't think a smoker should be exempt from any kind of health care because of that smoking. Yes, smoking is a choice, but a lot of other things are not, and we cannot, absolutely cannot, cut others off from needed health care because of their choices.

If I can keep on working, and if my continued work means that others who cannot work live a better life, then that's how it should be.

[DesertFlower]

10. my mom was very healthy. drove until she

was 80. then she developed dementia. my sister is 62 and in great health. still works.

i do pilates. bought a machine in '99. keeps me flexible.

i also believe we have to help each other and i'm not religious. actually i'm an atheist.

i wish you continued good health.

[liberation]

70. Good for you! Everyone does better when everyone does better

seriously why are so many among us having such a hard time grasping that very simple concept, right?

[Auntie Bush]

71. It's funny how all those religious conservatives are the ones who hate helping the poor or disabled.

[Jbradshaw120]

3. I agree

I think to many people dont fully understand the level of freedom granted to young people by social security and medicare. If I wasn't for these programs many more people would have much less disposable income, and that's bad for everyone including our economy.

[DesertFlower]

4. welcome to DU.

:)

[Control-Z]

7. Welcome, Jbradshaw120!!

We love new progressive voices here at DU and usually figure out who is a good fit by what they say in their first post. By yours, I think you'll fit right in.

[DesertFlower]

11. i agree. nt

[mahina]

15. Welcome!

100% agreed too.

[Le Taz Hot]

29. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Enthusiast]

30. You are so right, Jbradshaw120.

If 'they' think the economy is bad now just wait until they slash consumer demand further by cutting the stimulus effect of social security and medicare.

Welcome to DU.

[tilsammans]

45. Welcome to DU!

Agree 100% with your post. :hi:

[Blasphemer]

67. Very good point

It becomes even more important when the economy is struggling. Young people who are unemployed or underemployed have a hard enough time supporting themselves, much less contributing to the support of older relatives. Even with Social Security and Medicare, many find themselves needing supplemental income to cover health care costs. Any changes to the social safety net need to be made in the opposite direction to what is currently being popularly advocated. For a lot of people, it's simply not enough.

[JDPriestly]

5. Cut military spending not Social Security and Medicare.

[Enthusiast]

31. Ah, but that would be reasonable.

Reasonable is no longer........................reasonable.

[hopiakuta]

53. smother, strangle, drown, trim

Smother, strangle, drown the Defense Department in a bathtub;

trim the Pentagon until it's a small circle.


That name is similar to Jason Bradford Priestley.

[JDPriestly]

61. Not Jason Bradford

[geckosfeet]

6. Agree completely. If anything, medicare should be extended to 55. Full SS

benefits should kick in at 55 as well.

[SheilaT]

9. Personally, I think it should be

social security for all, but no one in power is asking me.

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. I have been plagued with poor health, and look forward to collecting

SS at 62, should I last so long. I certainly don't see myself living past 75, particurly with having two parents with Alzheimes, one of whom is now deceased. My idea of my golden years is not working to the last possible minute, then spending 5 years on a locked ward.

Whatever party supports the end of SS will never see my vote again.

[Enthusiast]

32. I'm with you on the vote.

I fear we will have to create a third party. Too many 'used to be reasonable' Democrats are sounding like Republicans on this issue.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

13. #1 Good for you that you can still work.

#2. I spent the last 43 years as a union Sheet Metal Worker. What this entails is strapping on about 50# of tools in a toolbelt, overalls, workboots, safety glasses, etc, throwing a 50# piece of pipe over your shoulder and climbing up and down ladders all day with two 10 minute breaks to pee anhd a half hour for lunch. At 60, my body is worn out. My knees are shot, my hips are shot, my wrists are shot, my elbows are shot. I'm supposed to continue this for another 10 years? I dare any pencil pushing beaurocrat to try to do what I have done all my life for ONE DAY and tell me I should keep working longer. For office worker types, think strapping 100# of weights and getting on a stairmaster for eight hours straight. Then get up the next day and do it again. And again, five or six days a week.

#3. You are right. Not all of us can keep doing what we do forever and I thank people like you for making sure I don't have to try.

Anthrapologists can look at the bones of the ancients and tell who built the pyrimids and who drew the plans. The bones are not the same.

[whathehell]

21. You make the case beautifully for why we must NOT raise the age on SS or Medicare..Thank you. n/t

[stevedeshazer]

26. +1

Brother.

[Enthusiast]

34. Excellent point on the bones.

I have an old National Geographic magazine showing how the vertebrae grew to be fused together on many of the pyramid builders. I worked with old guys that were like that -they couldn't bend at all. One can only imagine the pain.

[oldbanjo]

66. My knees and hips are bad,

it's from working on steel deck Ships as a pipefitter, I'm now 66 and I retired early many years ago (regular retirement not medical), if I hadn't been lucky enough to be able to retire early there is no way I could have worked until I was 65. Every working person needs Medicare and SS.

[sfpcjock]

14. Plus, you paid for it. It's yours!

[Major Hogwash]

16. Obama really lowered his re-election odds with the "debt deal".

Two years from now pundits will be looking back on Obama's first term and they will point to that deal as to when Obama jumped the shark.

Anybody that cuts Social Security benefits should not be re-elected because Social Security does not add one dime to the deficit.

And that includes Democrats, too.

[quakerboy]

52. The problem we have is

that noone has stepped forward to take up that banner. We seem to be headed for a choice between bad and worse. Cut SS or end SS seem to be the only options on the table with anybody currently running for president.

[NNN0LHI]

17. Can't you take your Social Security when eligible and keep working?

I know a lot of people who have done that.

Don

[RebelOne]

19. I did that at age 65.

I was working full time and collecting social security. At 65, you can collect full benefits. You do not have to wait until you are 70. I worked until 2010. I turned 70 in January and was laid off that month.

[NNN0LHI]

20. That is what confused me about the OP

Why would someone give up five years of SS and Medicare benefits voluntarily?

Don

[mysuzuki2]

51. for people in their 60s now, full retirement age is 66. If you

take it before then there is a reduction. But if you wait until age 70, you get an increase in benefits of about 30%. For some people, it makes sense to wait.

[RebelOne]

55. When I started receiving social security benefits,

the retirement age for full benefits was 65. I am receiving the maximum payout.

[mysuzuki2]

62. Not exactly, you would have received more if you had

waited after 65.

[RebelOne]

84. No. You are wrong. At the time I started collecting

social security, the full benefits were paid at 65.

[mysuzuki2]

85. full benefit does not equal maximum benefit.

if you were born before 1938 full retirement age was 65. Born after that it was higher. However, there is a thing called delayed retirement credits that increase the benefit for every month after full retirement age that you wait through age 70. I processed SS claims for 30 years before my recent retirement.

[SheilaT]

50. Until you reach your full retirement age,

which for me is 66, you can't earn more than a certain amount -- I think it's currently $14,000/yr without the SS benefit being cut. Once you reach your full retirement age -- and it's scheduled to go up in future years, then you can collect SS and earn as much as you want.

If you start collecting early, your benefit is very substantially reduced, and reduced permanently. Because I was out of the workforce for 25 years, at this point in my life I cannot possibly earn enough money to increase my SS payout other than by delaying when I start taking it. My payout (and this is actually true for everyone) at 70 is about double what it would be at 62.

A friend of mine who too early retirement about four years ago at the age of 58, is having his benefit cut as he turns 62, basically requiring him to start collecting SS at that point.

Medicare kicks in at age 65. However, if you are working for a company that employs some specific number of employees (probably 50 maybe more), and that company has health insurance for its employees, your company's health plan pays first, then Medicare. If you work for a company employing fewer than the threshold number of employees, Medicare pays first, then your company health care plan.

[whathehell]

81. You can, but if you start collecting at 62 years, you are "limited" in the amount you can earn.

At 65, all limits are off.

[crazyjoe]

18. They aren't eliminating SS, just cutting it a small amount. relax

[whathehell]

22. You relax. Instead of cutting SS a small amount, how about raising taxes a "small amount"?

on milionaires and billionaires?

The greedy fucks have been fighting a 3 percent increase that would establish

put them at the same rates as those in the Clinton Administration.

[Enthusiast]

36. PLUS ONE!.......nt

[whathehell]

74. Yes. Thanks. n/t

[DesertFlower]

56. or raising the CAP.

[whathehell]

73. Exactly. n/t

[bvar22]

25. You sound just like those "experts" who tried to minimize Fukushima.

"Relax!
They're just venting a little steam."

The attacks on Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid are just as serious and life-threatening.
If it is cut "just a little",
more people will fucking DIE!"

The "Least Among Us" are already DYING
through:
*lack of access to proper Health Care,

*lack of decent safe housing,

*lack of funds to Keep the Heat & AC ON,

*lack of proper nutrition,


....but we can Tighten Up the old Safety Net a bit more, EH?
Man, THAT is COLD. :scared:


You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

Solidarity!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Enthusiast]

37. Yup

[chervilant]

44. Ya know

that 'die quickly' thing just isn't working for me...

Tomorrow is 'D-Day.' I'll find out if my UI continues another ten weeks, or if I am SOL and facing my imminent (Sept 30) homelessness with absolutely no resources. Apparently, the 'eight months' of tiered benefits I was promised is a red herring.

I had hoped for a pittance to get me through the winter AND to enable me to participate in the October 6 resistance. I'm now staring into the Black Abyss of Absolute Hopelessness.

Since I rarely get responses to my DU posts, I doubt very many here will notice when I topple over into that ravenous maw...

[Enthusiast]

49. Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

It sucks. I don't want to die quickly either. Sometimes I feel like it will be my only option.

[chervilant]

63. I confess

to sitting on my pity pot when I wrote that post this morning.

The reality is that I will fight tooth and nail to survive, AND to continue my activism in support of our species (specifically for our *CHILDREN*).

It's just hard, sometimes, especially when so large a number of us are blaming and shaming, and evincing a mean-spiritedness I've never seen before.

[PonyJon]

60. October 6 "Stop The Machine" in Wahington DC Freedom Plaza

see http://october2011.org/welcome Be there!!!

[chervilant]

65. Please

keep posting about October 6. Keep encouraging the vast numbers of disenchanted, marginalized US citizens to participate in this event, for as long as it takes!


To those of you gearing up to denigrate this planned event:

Are you scared? Me, too. But, I'm more frightened of what promises to happen if we do nothing!


Are you discouraged? Yeah, count me in here, too. The last decade has been a real downer, tempting me inexorably toward misanthropy. BUT, I'm digging in my heels and saying, "DAMMIT, *humanity* is worth it!"

Are you tired? Wow, walking right alongside ya... I am in my twilight years, with chronic back pain and a host of other challenges that sap my emotional and physical energy every single day. BUT, I can sit ensconced on my pity pot OR I can be a part of the change we desperately NEED to see in this world!


We can no longer indulge in armchair politics. We can no longer allow the minuscule fraction of humanity I call the Corporate Megalomaniacs to use and abuse us. We MUST act.


Gandhi and millions of his fellow citizens threw off the shackles of Britain's economic oppression using Satyagraha and non-violent resistance. We MUST do the same.


Remember:

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

and

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead, (1901 - 1978)

[crazyjoe]

87. are you trying to get republicans elected? Obama has agreed to these cuts you know.

[zalinda]

38. I live on $711 a month, what small amount can I give up? n/t

[Enthusiast]

79. Can't you move in with your parents?

I kid. This is no laughing matter.

If they mess with social security, in any way, I am going to lose my temper.

[chervilant]

42. As in

"Relax, you'll only feel a small pinch"?!

I guess I'm just not ready to bend over and grab my ankles...

[xxqqqzme]

43. Just a small amount?

What is a 'small' amount to you? $100? $50? $25? I know persons that $10 is the difference between needed medication or no dinner for a week.

[crazyjoe]

86. really? you know someone who can eat for a week on $10 ? wow, way to exaggerate.

[ejbr]

23. As a fellow DUer, I'd take you in too Sheila! n/t

[dash_bannon]

24. Amen

I tell people who oppose Social Security and Medicare about my dad. He had great insurance, or so he thought.

He had a crippling stroke when he was 58. He's paralyzed on the left side of his body. His "good insurance" dumped him ASAP and as a result he did not get the physical therapy needed in time. (There's a short window of opportunity to save parts of the brain after a stroke.)

As such, he's now wheel chair bound, can't tell time, add/subtract or do math.

I ask my Republican/Libertarian "friends" why they would make my Dad suffer so they can get a tax break?

People don't realize that SS and Medicare are there for us not just when we get old, but when disaster strikes and we become paralyzed or unable to work because of illness, disease, or poverty.

Most of my Rep/Libertarian friends remain speechless when I tell them about my Dad. They don't have a smart-ass right-wing comeback.

It's because it's real and personal.

In their minds government is evil, and SS/Medicare are simply systems of government giving hand-outs to lazy welfare queens. They don't realize the social welfare programs benefit real people, and could/would someday benefit them.

Most don't realize what a simple blood clot can do to your brain. It doesn't take much to wipe out your ability to take care of yourself.

We lefties get it. We understand that welfare systems are in place for the benefit of our fellow human being.

Righties are duped by ignorance, fear, and a very concentrated system of messaging. I think we can all agree we don't want cheats and frauds scamming the system, but that's not a case to get rid of the system.

I hope you live a long and healthy life. I hope we as Americans don't remove our social safety nets. Someday, we may need them.

Peace.

[Enthusiast]

41. Welcome to DU, Dash...nt

[tilsammans]

46. Very well said.

That's what I say to the RWers. Someday, they or their loved ones might need the benefits given by social safety net.

However, being a Republican in today's Republican Party means having zero empathy for anyone's misfortune. "I've got mine and to hell with you."

:hi: PS: Welcome to DU!

[raccoon]

82. Great post. Welcome to DU. nt

[Le Taz Hot]

27. Well stated. K & R n/t

[Enthusiast]

28. Thank you, SheilaT.

Congratulations on your excellent health. And I mean that most sincerely.

Rather than attempting to dismantle the social safety net Obama and the rest should be seeking ways to strengthen it. It is as simple as that. There are many nearly painless ways to accomplish this.

Obviously we need leadership from the president. But the president tipped his hand when he created Bowles-Simpson. We will get no help from that quarter. So those of you that are expecting president Obama to protect your social security and medicare, well, I'm sorry to say, you can forget that notion right now.

[bananas]

33. k&r nt

[southernyankeebelle]

35. I am there also. However, I early retired because of my health and took a cut because they wouldn't

give me disability. I said fuck it. I took early retirement at 62. I have health issues and now also heart condition. I don't even make a $1,000 a month. I am not eligible for medicare yet. I am lucky to have my husband's insurance coverage. People forget the reason these programs came into being in the first place is because people were dying. I have a son who we are helping financially. I honestly I didn't know how we are suppose to have them take care of us when they can't take care of themselves because he is a cook who works very hard and doesn't ask for a hand out. I am so sick of hearing republicans say pull your booths up when you don't have any booths. Shame on these asses. I hope they become poor and realize how the other half lives.

[mentalsolstice]

39. Thank you!

I'm an only child with no children. My husband has a niece and nephew who refuse to care for his sister, so it's unlikely they'll pinch in for us. We've prepared for the fact that we only have each other...however, cuts in SS and Medicare would have a drastic affect on our ability to take care of ourselves.

[B Calm]

40. I am 61 years old and my body is worn out from from working hard jobs.

It makes me sick to see politicans in suit and ties telling me we need to raise the social security retirement age.

[Faygo Kid]

47. Turning 60 next month and more convinced than ever to semi-retire early.

Just had a college reunion of 40+ years with a bunch of healthy friends, many of which are already retired or semi-retired. At 62, my company has a phased retirement program and I will look to take it. Life is short, and I am sick and tired of the corporate wars and this fast-paced urban environment.

[MrMickeysMom]

48. These people have but ONE mother-

GREED

[truedelphi]

54. My dad worked until he was seventy three, largely because he'd

Heard that people often die of boredom soon after they retire. (He went on to truly enjoy his retired status and wished he'd retired earlier.)

But he had a desk job.

For people whose jobs require physical activity, like nurses, teachers, construction personnel, waiting till 67 is a huge burden. Social Security is already a rigged game in that the more affluent you are, the more access you have to decent health care. So being rich offers a much greater probability that you'll live to see your Social Security payments returned to you.

Chris Rock jokes that black guys in the ghetto should receive their first Social Security check when they are 29. And in many ways, it is not a joke.

[backtomn]

57. I know it might be popular, but......

When the SS bill passed in the late 30's, the average US citizen did not live to receive SS. The average life expectancy was 61.7 years, while retirement age was 65. You don't have to be a genius to know that a system with a retirement age of 65 and a life expectancy of 80, is not sustainable. Considering that all the SS funds have already been spent and we are hugely in debt, we will need to change things.....probably a higher retirement age....phased in over the next 10-20 years. Other than that......people within the ages of 18 to 45 will see NOTHING.

I am open to hear the other debate points, since this doesn't sound great......but I feel that it will not be as bad as the alternative.

[vanboggie]

58. Understand the Right's Attack on Social Security

Yes OUR money. I am 61 and I have paid in for decades as have my employers. This ruse that SS is broke is just a sleight of hand to get our money and hand it to Wall Street. The rich get richer and we die. Simple as that.

Link below to Understand the Right's Attack on Social Security. It's an easy-to-understand, well written article by Dave Johnson of Campaign for America's Future and may help you understand why we KNOW they are lying to us.

http://www.truth-out.org/understand-rights-attack-social-security/1314537823

"Here is what to take away from this: Every time you hear that "Social Security is going broke" you are hearing a manufactured propaganda point that is part of a decades-old strategy. Every time you hear that "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme" you are hearing that strategy in operation. Every time you hear that "Social Security won't be there for me anyway" " you are witnessing that strategy unfold."

[B Calm]

64. Infant mortality rate is much higher now than it was in the late 30s. Thus

raising the life expectancy. Don't believe the right wing lie that people are living longer now, so we need to raise the retirement age.

[bvar22]

69. Glad to see you won't mind your Mom & Pop moving back in with you!

You will have a wonderful time taking care of them in their Old Age.
That is very generous of you.

Me?
I'm fighting to keep Social Security fully funded for the next 100 years by Eliminating the Cap on Payroll Taxes,
instead if spreading Republican propaganda.


You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

Solidarity!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[TheKentuckian]

78. Do you think child mortality rates, modern medicine, and the very programs we are discussing have no

impact those numbers?

The programs work too well for some, time to cut them back so the "small people" die quickly when they no longer are productive consumers.

[B Calm]

59. Studies show that the people who retire early, live longer!

I would rethink retiring at age 70.

[polmaven]

68. They more likely don't

have mothers of fathers who would depend on SS/Medicare the way most of us will.

[Wheezy]

72. Beautifully said.

People don't only need them, they deserve them.

[rhett o rick]

75. This is a class war. And the ruling class has an army of gullibles. nm

[SheilaT]

76. Oh, my! I just logged into DU and

discovered this thread on the front page. I'm flabbergasted.

I rarely start threads, and I'm touched by all who have recommended this one.

Anyway, back to the original point of this thread. I am old enough to recall when aging parents typically lived with grown children. And that was because those aging parents had almost no income of any kind. My own grandparents would not have collected social security. On grandfather died in 1938, his wife, that grandmother was of course a stay-home spouse. She lived with my Uncle Bill until her death in 1953.

As for the other set, that grandfather had to take early retirement because of health reasons. He'd been a gardener and chauffeur for rich people on Long Island, later worked for the public schools as a janitor and had a very small pension from that. He died in 1960. He and that grandmother again lived with one of their grown daughters and her husband.

I hope to remain independent the rest of my life, but who knows how long I'll live, or what will happen to my health or intellect over time? I know quite a few people around my age who either never married, or married but never had children. And even if we don't expect to live with our kids in the later years, it helps to have someone around who can sign off on the DNR orders (small joke here) and make sure that we get buried or cremated or whatever when we do pass on. I have told both of my sons that eventually I will probably move to be in the same city as one or the other (right now one is 800 miles away, the other about 1200 miles away) not because I'd move in with either one, but to make sure that it's a bit easier to handle the end-of-lifetime stuff.

[abelenkpe]

77. My moms 67 collects social security

And is a tea partier working to end social security. It's for her but not her children.

[SheilaT]

80. Amazing.

Are you able to talk about it with her? I couldn't have a civil conversation if that were my mother.

[abelenkpe]

89. I've tried but the conversations quickly turn ugly so gave up long ago.

She's coming out to visit first time since my five year old was born. I'm not sure how to handle her nuttiness around my kids. Don't want to argue with her but also don't want her filling their heads with her tea party conspiracy nuttiness either.

[NNN0LHI]

83. Has mom ever exhibited any racist tendencies in your presence?

[abelenkpe]

88. She has ranted against immigrants and Muslims

but swears she is not a racist. Her son and husband enjoy forwarding bigoted jokes and using derogatory terms for minority groups. But they too swear they are not racists. They don't understand why I don't bring my kids out to visit. My kids teachers are Muslim and my husbands family immigrated here from Ireland. Their cousins are half Irish and half Japanese. My mother can't understand what we find offensive about her beliefs. It's all a huge mess. I don't know how to explain to a five and seven year old that their grandparents aren't bigots but behave in ways that are bigoted mainly because it makes no sense to me.
Can one behave like a bigot and not be a bigot?

[NNN0LHI]

90. Can one behave like a bigot and not be a bigot?

Not sure but I think I know some people who would never get involved in a lynching. But they would they would never lift a finger to stop one either. Not sure if that qualifies?

And by the way my mom is the same as yours. Not an active tea party member or anything but she is a lifelong Republican and exhibits racist tendencies too. She considers herself a good Christian woman. She would never admit to being a racist either. When she gets all fired up and starts in about "all those people on welfare", I have to remind her that she and her family were on Relief during the Great Depression when her father was out of work. Relief is what they called welfare back then. That doesn't even slow her down.

And she has gotten worse over time too. I don't remember her being this way as I was growing up.

What are you going to do though? I still love her. I have to. She is my mom.

Don