Wanted: A Youth Party to Tackle Health Care

“Both Parties Wooing Seniors” reports today’s Wall Street Journal. And why not? Older people are much more likely to vote. According to the Census Bureau, in Presidential election years only about 30-40 percent of the youngest voters (aged 18-20)  vote compared to about 68 percent for those over 65. In Congressional election years, the differences are even more stark: 13-17 percent for the youngest versus about 60 percent for the oldest. Voting rates rise gradually for each age cohort from youngest to oldest –it’s not just a difference between the young and the old.

So it’s really no wonder that spending priorities in this country are biased toward the old, or that the biggest –and completely unfunded– spending boost for the old in the form of the Medicare Part D drug benefit occurred under the notionally conservative George W. Bush and a Republican Congress. It’s disappointing but unsurprising that the “brave” Paul Ryan approach to Medicare reform puts 100 percent of the pain on the younger generation. Of course Democrats pander to the aged, attacking any Republican move on Medicare as a burden on the old even when it’s exactly the opposite.

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