Miller's Right: Young Americans Get the Shaft
by Frederick M. Hess • Jun 18, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Cross-posted from Education Week
Cross-posted from Education Week
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Over the weekend, CAP's Matt Miller penned a terrific Washington Post column ("Young Americans Get the Shaft") in the same vein. It's a must-read for anyone who fancies that they're an education advocate. Miller writes:
How are [Americans under 35] being swindled today?... There's no cash for such investments [in research and development] in the future because pension and health-care programs for seniors (plus a bloated Pentagon) take up so much of the budget. At the federal level, seven dollars go to programs supporting elderly consumption for every dollar invested in people under 18. Nationally (after taking account of the fact that most education is paid for at the state and local level), the ratio is still 2 1/2 to one.And that's just today's elderly tilt. We have trillions in unfunded liabilities in these programs coming due as more and more boomers retire.Yet amazingly, both parties would exempt every current senior from participating in the inevitable adjustments in these programs. Paul Ryan and Barack Obama lock arms in agreeing
