The article reacts to Republican House leader John Boehner of Ohio, who proposed raising social security retirement ages to fund the War in Afghanistan. This is an indecent proposal.

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John Boehner, minority leader for the Republicans in the House of Representatives, gave an interview to a Pittsburgh newspaper in which he seriously proposed raising the social security retirement age so that more funds can be appropraited for our losing War in Afghanistan. No, this is not some kind of obscene joke, Boehner was totally serious.

Having retired already, my wife and I would not be affected by such a proposal, as we are already locked into our retirement ages -- although since she is younger, her age for full retirement benefits was raised a year beyond my full benefit age. Indeed, as the baby boomers continue to retire, they will find ever-increasing age requirements already in place for them to receive full benefits. These proposals were enacted to save social security, as fewer and fewer working people support more and more retired people via their taxes.
That would seem to be a legitimate reason for raising retirement ages.

The Boehner proposal, however, is a snake of a different color. Paying for our unnecessary and unwinnable war in Afghanistan by making Americans work longer to receive full social security benefits, which are already inadequate with no inflation adjustment this year, is obscene -- but not a joke. Of course, Boehner himself will not have to worry, thanks to the lavish Congressional retirement benefits he will receive. It is just we working stiffs who would get to work more years while younger workers wait in the wings for job openings and advancement delayed by the clogging of the career ladder.

The one ray of light in this Bane of Boehner is the simple and wise solution: we begin phasing down this unwinnable war now, start pulling troops out as soon as humanly possible, and then have no need to tamper with social security to fuel an unnecessary war effort.
As for John Boehner, the sooner progressives retire him from Congress, the better. He is a disgrace to all working and retired Americans, and has fought every single proposal of the Obama administration tooth and nail. Sadly, though, he is not alone.

Authors Bio:

Author's Biography

Eugene Elander has been a progressive social and political activist for decades. As an author, he won the Young Poets Award at 16 from the Dayton Poets Guild for his poem, The Vision. He was chosen Poet Laureate of Pownal, Vermont for his poem Pownal People. His three new verses for America the Beautiful:September 11, 2001 were widely acclaimed and read into the Congressional Record by U.S. Senator Chris Dodd.
Dr. Elander has authored four volumes of poetry: The Right Click, The World Click, Journeyings, and Philosophy over Fika, all written from 2004 to now, in the U.S. and Sweden -- as well as two published novels: The Goat of God, and Turning the Tides, both available via Signalman Publishing on Amazon.com in Kindle and electronic pdf editions. A self-help book titled Empowerment:Taking Charge of your Life was recently completed and is available via Amazon.com KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing.
Dr. Elander is a freelance columnist who published a newspaper for ten years in New London, CT. He is an economist and college lecturer, and has been an agency executive director, emergency management consultant, investigator; and former animal control officer, deputy code enforcement and health officer for Farmington, New Hampshire. He and his wife Birgit, who co-authored The World Click, divide their time between Georgia and her homeland, Gotland, Sweden.
Several other books are underway, including a sequel to The Goat of God, and a public version of his doctoral dissertation on Cooperatism, a new economic system he developed which includes all stakeholders (workers, consumers, and the public as well as stockholders) in crucial decision making. Dr. Elander has been a member of the Stonepile Writers group in Georgia and the Poetry Society of New Hampshire. He is president of his own Elander Press.