Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Then They Came For The Retirees

The Stevens Point Journal has an article warning of the impending crisis coming as more baby boomers begin to retire.  The article, based on a report by the austerity driven Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, states that the number of retirees will nearly double in the next 25 years while the workforce numbers will remain stagnant.

Jake at his Funhouse has a good breakdown of the numbers at his site.  He also accurately points out that a large part of the problem stems directly  from the maleficent laws and policies implemented by Scott Walker and the Teapublicans in the legislature.  People are moving to be in or near places like Minnesota, where things are flourishing due to not having to deal with the oppressive laws of Wisconsin, whether they are economical or social in nature.

Sadly, instead of recognizing the problem and taking actions to reverse the damage they have done, the Teapublicans are preparing to double down on the problems by attacking the retirees:
Government will be particularly hard-hit by an aging population, as growing numbers fall off the tax rolls but are in need of increasing services.

An older population relies on retirement income that is often not taxable, such as Social Security. Sales taxes will also fall since older residents purchase more services than goods. Services are generally not taxable, while goods are.

“Either we’re going to have to adjust how we spend as a state and how much we support people in retirement, or we’re going to have to find a way to grow to a point that we can still continue to give the services we’ve grown to expect,” Nygren said.

While an aging population will be a boon to a few industries — notably health care and elder care — the taxpayers alliance report and state economists say the negative effects will be widespread and long lasting areas beyond government as well.

Average personal income, which rose 22 percent through the 1990s, will stagnate with the working-age population, likely growing only 5 percent from 2020 to 2029.

Declining birth rates will drop school enrollment, making schools less efficient and education more costly. This will be particularly true in rural areas such as northern Wisconsin, where there are already 60 school districts with less than five students per square mile.
People will continue to flee the state when they can't find family-supporting jobs, the education system deteriorates through starvation and privatization, and the general quality of life grows lesser by the day.

Watch for the Republicans to blame the consequences of their actions on an aging population and use it for justification to make things even worse.

4 comments:

  1. jake is a jackass -- constantly blog whoring here -- he has no credibility with numbers even though you fraudulently prop him up.

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    Replies
    1. Care to say why I have "no credibility"? And give something other than "Ot hurts my pwe-vinous fee-wings."

      You do understand that real life isn't AM radio, and facts and numbers can be independent of your opinion. Back your claim up, and put your name on it, if you have the "credibility"

      Delete
    2. Hmm, 36 hours and no response. How " Unintimidated."

      Delete
  2. I think the looming nursing shortage is going to be really tough. interestingly, in every nursing shortage of the 20th century (and there were many) was solved or at least blunted by the actions of the federal government and often state governments as well. since the teapublican (and to be fair, the neoliberal) people aren't into govenrments solving problems like this,. I wonder what the solution wiill be? Somehow I'm not too sure privitizing will be the solution. one nicce thing is even if good people will suffer and die, many of those people will be neo liberals and teabirchers.

    ReplyDelete