Why we have a deficit problem

This wasn't posted in July of 2011. It's an interesting perspective, so I hit the "Publish" button today and it marks a return to my posts at this blog:

Here's a link to an article by Robert Samuelson in the Washington Post on July 28, 2011:
Click to go to "Why We Are in This Debt Fix"

Here's an interesting quote from the article. This is about the issues and some of the mythology framing the recent political debate.

 "What sustains these contradictions is a mythology holding that, once people hit 65, most become poor. This justifies political dogma among Democrats that resists Social Security or Medicare cuts of even one dollar. But the premise is wrong. True, some elderly live hand-to-mouth; many more are comfortable, and some are wealthy. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports the following for Medicare beneficiaries in 2010: 25 percent had savings and retirement accounts averaging $207,000 or more; among homeowners (four-fifths of those 65 and older), three-quarters had equity in their houses averaging $132,000; about 25 percent had incomes exceeding $47,000 (that’s for individuals, and couples would be higher)."

The next time someone tells me that they "are living on fixed income" I'll remember that quote.