A muse on the extraction of urine.

[Lotusflower]

These are the first two paragraphs of today's Torygraph front page story.

 

Better-off pensioners should be stripped of their taxpayer funded benefits because they are difficult to justify at a time of widespread spending cuts, Nick Clegg said yesterday.

The Deputy Prime Minister said giving free television licenses, winter fuel payments and free bus passes to everyone was increasingly "difficult to explain." He called on well-off pensioners to help "make ends meet" by surrendering the handouts, warning that it was not fair that Lord Sugar, the tycoon, for example, should be entitled to receive state assistance.

 

Doubtless Lord Sugar will be miffed to have to pay his own fare on the number 74 into the office every day if and when the benefits only include the poorest pensioners.

Clegg does have a point though and I agree in principal with his reasoning.

However, he omits to make any mention of the taxpayer funded benefits still being claimed on a daily basis by some of his colleagues in Parliament. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/18/mps-expenses-food?oo=463&askid=3cf2e012-46d2-4fb0-aee9-bbfca13925b9-0-uk_gsb

 

Will Mr. Clegg now call for an immediate end to the £400 monthly allowance all MP's are allowed to claim for food?

 

I rather suspect that he will not! As far as I am concerned the man is beneath contempt. I will never cease to be amazed that people will go out and vote for a man they would'nt dream of buying a used car from.

 

We're all in this together... I think not!

[Birds]

Will Mr. Clegg now call for an immediate end to the £400 monthly allowance all MP's are allowed to claim for food?

 

 

Not all MP's are wealthy. As daft as it sounds, perhaps MP's should be means-tested for the £400 monthly allowance.

[Lotusflower]

Not all MP's are wealthy. As daft as it sounds, perhaps MP's should be means-tested for the £400 monthly allowance.

 

Wealthy is a relative term at best.

They decide for themselves what's fair and what's not. I know of no other profession where you can claim £400 a month for food on top of your annual salary. Add on the second homes including bills for energy, repairs, telephone calls, improvements...all at taxpayer's expense and perhaps the title I chose for this thread becomes clearer.

[skinz]

Not all MP's are wealthy. As daft as it sounds, perhaps MP's should be means-tested for the £400 monthly allowance.

 

Remove the £400 MONTHLY food allowance and they'll starve. What is it they eat?

[harvey19]

I don't think many wealthy people use bus passes so what is the point of this statement except to align himself to Labour.

[Badlittlepup]

Totally agree with this. My parents have so far this year been on holiday to Antigua, Lanzarote, Majorca, Cyprus, Malta, Crete and the USA yet still receive these benefits.

 

You say the word 'pensioner' and people have images of little old ladies sat in council flats ekeing out their last pennies, but in reality an awful lot of todays pensioners are incredibly well off. They own property bought when they were cheap which are now worth a mint, had comparably much higher wages when they worked and have gold plated pensions of the type younger people can only dream of, and savings which were invested back in the days when they used to make a decent rate of interest, hence have provided a decent return.

 

In contrast you're going to have working families who are now saddled with huge mortgages, have debt because there is no point saving anymore, struggle to afford to invest in their own pensions because their wages have stagnated. Yet they are being asked to subsidise benefits for much wealthier people. The young are a lot more likely to be poorer than the wealthy baby boomers.

 

Clegg is right, get rid, we shouldn't be giving benefits to the wealthy, they should be means tested. Benefits should be for those in need, not to subsidise an extra meal out in Spain, which is what these benefits are often going on now.

[harvey19]

Totally agree with this. My parents have so far this year been on holiday to Antigua, Lanzarote, Majorca, Cyprus, Malta, Crete and the USA yet still receive these benefits.

 

You say the word 'pensioner' and people have images of little old ladies sat in council flats ekeing out their last pennies, but in reality an awful lot of todays pensioners are incredibly well off. They own property bought when they were cheap which are now worth a mint, had comparably much higher wages when they worked and have gold plated pensions of the type younger people can only dream of, and savings which were invested back in the days when they used to make a decent rate of interest, hence have provided a decent return.

 

In contrast you're going to have working families who are now saddled with huge mortgages, have debt because there is no point saving anymore, struggle to afford to invest in their own pensions because their wages have stagnated. Yet they are being asked to subsidise benefits for much wealthier people. The young are a lot more likely to be poorer than the wealthy baby boomers.

 

Clegg is right, get rid, we shouldn't be giving benefits to the wealthy, they should be means tested. Benefits should be for those in need, not to subsidise an extra meal out in Spain, which is what these benefits are often going on now.

Perhaps some of these wealthy pensioners help out their poorer children.

[Badlittlepup]

Perhaps some of these wealthy pensioners help out their poorer children.

 

They probably do, mine certainly do. But there are an awful lot of younger people who don't have wealthy parents to help them out who are subsidising the wealthier pensioners. Anyway, it's called the 'Winter Fuel Allowance', not the 'Give your kid a couple of hundred quid for Christmas allowance.'

[fake]

In contrast you're going to have working families who are now saddled with huge mortgages, have debt because there is no point saving anymore, struggle to afford to invest in their own pensions because their wages have stagnated.

 

People don't have to get themselves into huge debts or mortgages but chose to.

 

This is how it goes..

 

You get mortgaged up to the hilt because you chose to, you invest in a private pension because you chose to. That pension will be classed as income so will be subject to means testing. You then get old and infirm and have to sell that property on to pay for your health bills because of means testing.

 

Is the above worth it?

[Lotusflower]

Wow!

Seems to be the general mood that it's fine and dandy to cosh pensioners and means test them whether "wealthy" or not...and to look the other way whilst your elected representatives rob you blind.

Sometimes I despair.

Hands up anyone out there who knows the difference between kneeling down and bending over.