October 22, 2008

Robert Samuelson, how do I love thee?

By: David Donadio

Thank you. Quoth Samuelson:

To: Voters Under 35
Subject: Your Future
Recommendation: Get Angry

You’re being played for chumps. Barack Obama and John McCain want your votes, but they’re ignoring your interests. You face a heavily mortgaged future. You’ll pay Social Security and Medicare for aging baby boomers. The needed federal tax increase might total 50 percent over the next 25 years. Pension and health costs for state and local workers have doubtlessly been underestimated. There’s the expense of decaying infrastructure — roads, bridges, water pipes. All this will squeeze other crucial government services: education, defense, police.

You’re not hearing much of this in the campaign. One reason, frankly, is that you don’t seem to care. Obama’s your favorite candidate (by 64 percent to 33 percent among 18- to 29-year-olds, according to the latest Post-ABC News poll). But he’s outsourced his position on these issues to AARP, the 40 million-member group for Americans 50 and over.