Taking from the poor to give to the rich

Bonnie Kristian has an excellent article over at Rare about how government programs, such as Medicare, Obamacare, and Social Security, transfer wealth from the relatively young and poor to the relatively old and rich.

Between 1984 and 2009, median net worth of Americans 35 and younger shrunk by 68%, while Americans 65 and older saw a 45% gain. Young people now average just $3,600, while their grandparents average $170,000.

The Affordable Care Act ultimately relies on the same redistributionist principle—taking extra money from the young and healthy and using it to subsidize the health care of our far wealthier and less healthy parents and grandparents.

All told, “more than 50 percent of federal benefits flow to the 13 percent of the population over 65”—the same segment of the population with forty-seven times young people’s income and net worth. This makes no sense.

As Medicare and Social Security take up more and more of the federal budget, it will be interesting to see how long politicians will pretend math doesn’t matter.