You are right, freedom is indeed not free, I think I heard somewhere that it costs $1.05. All kidding aside, I attempted to caviat the gravy train comment with a reference to federal spending in general. Fail. What I refer to is the massive entitlement culture that has been created and the fact that it cannot be sustained. What you and I consider to be worthwhile expenditures of entitlements (military pensions), others think that gay illegal alien mothers of 14 are a more worthwhile. So to get it done, everyone must take a bite of this giant shit sandwich that we have made for ourselves in order to get past picking winners and losers. This is just the beginning of the default on promises that will come from the state. Now, to play devil's advocate for a second, why is it unreasonable to expect a retiree to find gainful employment for themselves between retirement and this proposed age of 57.