Republican, Democrat or Independent, I’m not sure how anyone can justify or defend President Barack Obama’s recent stroke of brilliance to provide a handout of $250 cash in lieu of a cost of living increase to all seniors in the United States. It’s pathetic how blatantly partisan this move is; it effectively amounts to nothing more than a shameless attempt to buy senior citizens’ votes for the Democratic Party.
With Obama’s poll numbers slipping a bit, the healthcare debacle and the war in Afghanistan putting Democrats in a tough position for the upcoming 2010 elections, the political strategists at the White House probably felt having a potentially angry mass of senior citizens wasn’t in their best interest.
The problem with making seniors mad is that their anger can really change the tide of an election; they vote, consistently, year in and year out, and they have the disposable income to donate in much larger quantities than younger demographic groups. In 2008, seniors made up 23 percent of the electorate and the 60 and older category was the only demographic group that Obama didn’t win. The AARP, which is the highest profile association representing retired persons, doled out $27,900,00 in campaign contributions for 2008 — the third highest behind Exxon Mobil and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. As individuals, retirees donated $78 million to potential Presidential candidates in the 2008 election cycle — more than any other category of individual donor.
This payment may be nothing more than a stimulus, but what will it stimulate other than consumer spending? I’m not sneering at $250, especially considering I’m a college student, but that amounts to just a little more than an extra $20 a month for each senior. Nationally, its $16 billion we can’t pay for without selling more debt — the government already announced that the money will not come from any of the Social Security trust funds. The bigger picture is the astonishing disrespect for any sort of fiscal responsibility in the face of political interests at a time when the U.S. debt has topped $1.4 trillion in this fiscal year. Obama’s administration is projecting trillion dollar budget deficits for the next ten years, which will drive our public debt to 80 percent of our national GDP.
I hope that senior citizens see this for what it is, political pandering and an incredibly sad ploy to prevent a potential backlash if the cost of living adjustment did not come through this year like in the past. Instead of getting angry about not getting a payment, I hope they get angry at the desperation to win their support.
It’s downright terrifying though, that this is a reality of our political system today. We have come to a point where the fear of losing an election because of the potential for angering a large segment of the population can result in a $16 billion expenditure that we can’t afford to pay as a nation. It’s another example of erosion in our ability to govern with any sort of moral responsibility and accountability to the general welfare of our nation.
