Forget Wall Street, Occupy AARP!
National Review columnist Veronique de Rugy has found a better target for so-called Occupiers than the 1 percent. Look at another special interest group that not only consumes a vast amount of GDP, but will take increasing amounts on into the future:
There’s another war — much more important in my view — that pits one class against another and is fully the result of specific government policies: the systematic transfer of wealth from the relatively young and poor to the relatively old and wealthy. . . .
[I]n 1970, spending on Social Security and Medicare was one-fifth percent of the budget (blue portion). This portion has since grown to nearly 37 percent of the budget in 2010. By 2030, half of the entire budget will be consumed by payments for senior citizens. Other spending (red portion) — which includes a variety of mandatory programs (such as federal civilian and military retirement, veterans’ programs, and unemployment compensations) and discretionary programs (such as defense spending) — makes up a decreasing share of the budget in the future.