@plainoldme,
It's not age discrimination, it's instead simple acturarial arithmetic. When social security was established the average life expectancy after benefits eligibility at 65 was just a few years. Life expectancy has increased by well over a decade since then. Raising the age at which benefits are available is a mathematical necessity, and it doesn'meaningfully alter the deal that was struck in 1937.
It is also true that in all but a few cases you woiuld be much better off if, instead of you and your employer paying the FICA tax, you had received the money and invested in the stock market. However, the unthinking folks and the permanent political class that leads them by the nose have bought into "certainty" at the hands of ... you guessed it, the political class that leads them. The truth is the government can't be trusted to face hard decisions, and the Greeks have provided us an excellent example.. The permanent political elite peddles illusions and the unthinking mob buys them with truly remarkable alacrity. The recent health care fiasco is but one of many examples.
Cyclo has made a point above about the bailout of AIG which satarted in the Bush administration. However he has not said a word about the three times larger bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - and these inept institutions still require and are still getting more government subsidies ... and without a word or hint of any payback ever. Franklin Raines a democrat political hack and former Clinton advisor was made president of Fannie Mae, earning $90 million in bonuses while taking orders fron Maxine Waters and Barney Frank and eagerly securitizing non qualifying mortgages to feed the growing bubble that defined the current economic debacle. Oidd that no mention is made of them while the Administration pillories Wall street for its contributions to the current mess.
