Whither Obama's "Great Opportunity" for Baby Boomers?

By John W. Lillpop


The Obama administration, including the president himself, is trying to sell the current economic Armageddon as a "great opportunity" for anxious Americans.

Which begs the question, "Since Obama takes great pains to blame President George W. Bush for the downside of the economic crisis, does he also plan to credit the former president for his part in delivering this "great opportunity?"

Rhetorical question, that was.

As reported, in part, at Yahoo News:

"Trying to buck up a dispirited nation, President Barack Obama on Saturday promised that prosperous days will return and cast these bleak times as nothing less than a 'great opportunity.' Packing some heft with his hope, he defended his fast-moving and expensive agenda."

Obama's naive, cheery perspective may sound cool and comforting to some, especially those whom prefer fairly tales to reality. AKA, liberal Democrats.

However, what about that great American phenomenon known as the "Boomer Generation,' those born between the years of 1946-1964? Approximately 75 million Americans, or 25 % of the total U.S. population, are boomers.

Obviously, there is no single way to pigeonhole everyone born between 1946 and 1964; nonetheless, large numbers of boomers unquestionably share the following profile:

They worked hard for forty or more years to achieve middle class goals and objectives, ergo, the American Dream.

They paid tens of thousands of dollars in local, state, and federal taxes, and served honorably in defense of their homeland.

They scrimped and sacrificed in order to educate their children and to provide said offspring with a decent chance at acquiring and living the American Dream.

They scrimped and saved to build up nest eggs in 401(k), IRA, and other retirement accounts.

They invested in home ownership as a means for building equity.

From the perspective of many boomers in their 60s and once hopeful of enjoying dignified retirements, the American Dream has turned into a bruising nightmare, worthy of profane cursing, or worse.

Many have seen hard earned retirement savings and home equities all but liquidated during the economic meltdown, or time of "great opportunity" as Barack Obama sees it.

Retirement is no longer an option for many, a crisis sure to be exacerbated by the Social Security and Medicare bubbles bound to burst, sooner rather than later.

While retirement is out of the question, securing gainful employment for older Americans is all but impossible in a society that reveres youth and which punishes anyone with the audacity to show any sign suggesting that aging has advanced beyond 40.

All of which is made even more foreboding in an economy that shed more than 600,000 jobs in the early weeks of the Obama presidency.

Unfortunately, the failed liberal programs that led to the current crisis will not be reversed, but will be expanded, by socialists in the Obama administration and U.S. Congress.

With life savings and home equities plundered, retirement plans in ruin, and ageism running rampant, just where is the "great opportunity" for baby boomers?