U.S. is 'taking from the young,' top business lobbyist says

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. is 'taking from the young,' top business lobbyist says

Andy Sullivan
Reuters
5:15 p.m. CST, January 8, 2014

WASHINGTON - The top lobbyist in Washington for American business warned in unusually stark terms on Wednesday that younger Americans will face diminished economic prospects in coming years unless the United States reins in spending on the elderly and improves its education system.

"I worry that for the first time in history, we're in a situation where America is taking from the young in order to support the old," Thomas Donohue, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a speech that laid out the powerful business group's agenda.

Donohue's remarks reflect the bitter residue of a years-long budget battle that has largely failed to tackle the nation's long-term fiscal problems, as well as a new focus on inequality in Washington.

As in other areas, the business group is likely to clash with the Obama administration on some of its efforts to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, even as it supports other approaches. The Chamber will back the administration's push to impose common academic standards on a primary education system that is largely administered at the state and local level, Donohue said.

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Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-rt-us-usa-fiscal-chamber-20140108,0,3164214.story

[liberal N proud]

1. Propaganda designed to start generational war.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. The young vs the old isn't the right choice.

It's the 1% vs "the general welfare"

[vt_native]

3. Hey Donohue, you Fucker!

We're not buying it as we all know that Social Security is completely self -funded and hasn't contributed one penny to the deficit, despite our President's efforts to weaken it with a "payroll tax holiday" and his desire for a "Grand Bargain".

[Skittles]

4. bullshit - the 1% is taking from the 99%

and trying to get the young to blame the old

[upaloopa]

5. Pitting the young against the old for political gain.

The diminished future for the young stems from conservative ideology in practice.

[Turbineguy]

6. Businesses take money from

Oh, look, a flying saucer!

[Wolf Frankula]

7. He's Jealous

He wants it all for himself.

Wolf

[abelenkpe]

8. I'm gen X and we're already facing diminished economic prospects because the 1 percent are and have

been taking from the working class. This lobbyist is just trying to divert anger away from those responsible so that the rest of us fight among ourselves.

[dionysus]

9. ooooooo what a greedy douchebag.....

[Arneoker]

10. I'm glad that he cares about my kids' future.

Since they are not likely to start out their lives on their own as millionaires, no doubt next he'll be calling for raising taxes on the rich to close long-term deficits and provide government investments in infrastructure and education my kids will need for a prosperous future.

[bemildred]

11. Divide and rule. nt