How did these seniors survive or get care before the Great Depression? I don't think we just lined them up and pushed them over cliffs. There was no medicare, social security, medicaid, until the New [raw] Deal and Great [socialist] Society came along. Mostly it cam from families and local charitable organizations. As government has bloated, the private support to these local institutions has shrunk. So we have sacrificed a more efficient system of caring for our elderly and infirm for a heartless and soulless government that is grossly inefficient and wasteful.

>Seems like the more we earn as individuals the more we pay in taxes, expressed as a percentage and total of our income. We have to pay the salaries of politicians and other petty bureaucrats to oversee what we are doing and be sure they have their share of the pie.
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>I am for social security for those who have worked and are of retirement age and those that worked and are disabled. However, social security is used for many more purposes than originally intended. Should retires or disabled workers that have paid into the social security system have no support from the federal system? As workers we pay into a system and have some expectations about receiving some benefits later in life. Many retired people that had Medicare last year do not have it now as their HMO’s dropped them as of January 1st, 2001, leaving them without medical care. Perhaps that is how we should treat everyone – if you do not pay your own way go to hell. Who cares about a bunch of old farts that are not contributing to society? Just do not get old or sick unless you are rich. If you are not rich just kid yourself that everything is alright.
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>Tom