SOLVED. dystopic, near future, USA is too broke because too many senior citizens [s]

[Alan]

The story is set in 2032 or a year near that. One of the main characters is a teenager who has very slim prospects, another is a man of about 80.
Aging baby-boomers are such a dominant force in American politics that almost the only spending the government does is on Social Security and Medicare. No budget left for FEMA, education, or anything that is much help to people under the age of 65 because old folks will not allow taxes to be raised to cover spending on anything that benefits younger people or the country at large.
The 80-year-old loses his wonderful retirement home due to the earthquake, and because the economy is so fragile due to a largely impotent government, the condominium's insurance can't get him and his neighbors anything better than rooms on an anchored cruise ship, where things quickly go downhill.
The other plot line involves a young woman of about college age who can't really get anywhere because she's not wealthy.
The maguffin is the huge earthquake that virtually wrecks the US economy and turns the US into a third-world country, at least until these baby-boomers die or otherwise stop voting and quit strangling the country.

[Andy]

This is Christopher Buckley's Boomsday, I think Boomsday

On second look, maybe not. Perhaps Walter Jon Williams "The Rift" The Rift

[Lisa]

2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America

[Ingo]

From these suggestions I read The Rift, and it certainly has an earthquake, but I cannot remember the problems with an aging retired population playing a role (or not a significant one).
From the description I lean to the "2030: ... " book.

Another book with an Earthquake and a few problems with society which are all to real, The Shockwave Rider.
Highly recommended, even if it contains only a fraction of what is searched for and the writing-style is not for all:
it is a puzzle of short pieces of different stories like flipping through the channels of TV, to be assembled by the reader.
The future predicted in the time it was written is eerily accurate, down to the stock-market and small computers in our homes.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

When did you read it? We always need to know that. Was the author male or female? Remember the cover? Was this a Christian post-apocalyptic book? Paper book, ebook, other format?

[Trixie]

Following.

[Alan]

Andy wrote: "This is Christopher Buckley's Boomsday, I think Boomsday

On second look, maybe not. Perhaps Walter Jon Williams "The Rift" The Rift"

I enjoyed "The Rift," a great disaster novel set in the Mississippi valley. My favorite part was the "Huck and Jim" adventure of the White kid and the Black man journeying downriver through the devastation.

[Alan]

Lisa wrote: "2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America"

Thank you, that's the book. Now I have to end this thread before I annoy anybody else.

[Alan]

The book was found.
"2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America"

Many thanks to everyone.

[Lisa]

Alan wrote: "Lisa wrote: "2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America"

Thank you, that's the book. Now I have to end this thread before I annoy anybody else."
You're welcome.