GOP Considers Raising Retirement Age to 69???????????

Such a headline confirms the shot from Dean that the Republicans never worked a day in their lives, i.e. the elected ones in D.C. Anyone who does physical labor knows that the body begins to give way around age sixty, if not earlier. Anyone still pressing on after that risks strokes, heart attacks, critical joint damage, etc. What is a hard working individual supposed to do when his doctor -- or HMO -- tells him that he is risking life and limb? We see this more graphically with athletes who similarly stress their bodies. I sadly recall the well known NYC civil liberties lawyer who decided to get in shape and start jogging in his mid fifties who suffered an heart attack and died first go out.

Bottom line here: Only someone who has not faced the stresses on body of physical labor could possibly support holding off Social Security until age 69. Such is fine for lawyers, a bit dubious for some kinds of doctors (when hands get shaky and vision uncertain), and even us academics have a limit, if a schedule that allows us to labor on so long as the brain is fit and the body will get us there. But as one of my generation of college students who did heavy physical labor summers and got hurt occasionally, I am outraged by this Republican proposal.
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Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
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