Now I am prone to have sympathy for the national party positions but one of the sound bites from brash was stupid hypocrisy. He told us that hard working pensioners were subsidizing those dastardly young mothers (or something to that effect). Those pensioners who have worked hard all their lies and need a rest now.
What is my problem with that? Well we are paying the pensioners too, so it is the workers paying not the pensioners! Worse yet we pay them in a much more favorable manner than we pay for the mothers (i.e. less means testing). As for the argument that they have earned it look at the country's deficit - it has grown right? Well that means that the current generation including those pensioners have spent money borrowing against the younger people - i.e. they have spent more than they earned and have already been paid MORE than their work earns. To say they have "earned" an easy retirement - is ridiculous - they have recieved benifits their grand parents did not recieve and their grand children will quite likely be denied.
We can pay them something if we wish but that must be based on the same arguments for funding families - i.e. having a good society as opposed to some concept of "earning".