Seniors aren’t dead yet but Washington is

Following my previous column "Caucas circa senior citizens" , circumstances prevailed that brought about the soothing of the savage beast rapidly. Smoothly beginning with my friend Jan, when at BBQ dinner with the small group of four, she mentioned that she agrees with some of my thoughts in varied columns but not all. Next I was greeted by a classmate who started with, "Do you know who I am?" Hesitantly I replied, "Sherry Sibul?" "No, I'm Suzanne Harper!!" And Lynda was there with a smile at my awkwardness. And so set the mood that I'd better listen more than talk.

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Reflecting on the trip into nostalgia, back with those youthful memories of school days and culminating with high school graduation, I'm invigorated and filled with hope. As I met with those of my class and celebrated our communal 65th Birthdays, a maturity honed in the small cloud of friends, with diverse professional, social and political backgrounds. Around fifty were there, which included their spouses, and in one case their daughter covering the libation center, discussing our past teachers and school days of old. Business trends were a topic for those that weren't yet retired as well as health, which by and large fared well with the attendees. And Jonnie asked for my recipe for chopped chicken liver for her future soirées, as I bragged about is so much .(My Grandmother’s). It was, however after my return home that I began receiving e-mails showing concerns about health care and taxes. Hearing from Charlie and Roberta, (absentee classmates) their biggest concern with health care seemed to be problems finding doctors that spent the time to individualize care, rather than order a bunch of tests and prescribe a standardized care, frequently diagnosed by nurse practitioners. A further group just entering the Medicare System were having difficulty in selecting care as their original choice had withdrawn from the market place. Others had concerns that some doctors, even though the plans they had allowed choice of physicians were not taking Medicare. Then the concern of taxes and their ability to meet basic costs. Now I heard no one in the group crying poor mouth but the law of generalization would indicate some were not the wealthiest, nor the poorest, and most would be considered middle class. Which ones are which? I wouldn't hazard a guess but that it seems isn't where the difference lies. The difference is the concern seems to be general. Beliefs are Washington thinks of them as deep pockets with no bottom to their purse. They were astute enough to look into 2011 tax year and beyond with tax changes on the books already or proposed. In my view it seems that there are more new taxes than have accrued in the past 235 years. Oh there are discussions about unemployment and the never ending continuation of unemployment insurance, which instead of a temporary stop gap during a loss of job, is rapidly becoming a life time entitlement. Washington calls it an emergency, no different than the emergency stimulus bill for $26 billion to keep policemen and fireman on the street and to rehire teachers that had been laid off or would be laid off. And what happens to those states or cities like Los Angeles that indicate they will not use the money until later. After all, they don't have to use the money until Sept, 2012. And yet unemployment, let’s face it, even by my Senior friends, is a problem. But Washington doesn't think it so important, until the 2012 "Election" year. What a pleasure to be with a group that can still remember when an emergency was an occasional hurricane or tornado that did damage to the community. Or perhaps a freeze that killed the orange crop and trees that were two or three hundred years old. These were times that we asked for some coordinated help from the Federal government. And then, we were asked for help to assist our fellow Americans during the Cuban Missile crisis and the Vietnam War. And of course we were there. Now, the inevitability of every event being a national crisis and the only solution being "Government" and continually answering the call with a detrimental response to us and our country, bring to mind the fable about "Chicken Little" and "The sky is falling" cry. Or the story of the boy who cried wolf. Well there will be a time when we aren't there to answer the cry, and what happens then? The "wolf" will be real. Each year Washington listens less and less to the people they are tasked to represent. It seems that our Constitution is like the sands on the beach, awaiting the largest hurricane to ever exist. If we don't prepare barriers and seawalls it will all wash away. Like good will, it's so hard to attain and so easy to lose. So as the assault on intelligence continues from Washington's so called elite, I'll continue to be invigorated and filled with hope. I'll continue to take the chance that someone is listening.