Short and simple. Mortgage deductions, and tax credits for retirement savings, in addition to Medicare and Social Security, basically adjust the tax rates of the middle class. Since, as we all learned from the Wall Street community, cash is fungible, these lower our tax rates. Calling them "entitlements" rather than mathematical adjustments of tax rates is a clever way of making it seem like taxes are not being raised.
So in fact what is going on is RAISING TAXES!
For those who don't know what fungible means...
Uniform, interchangeable, and substitutable like cash for cash, corn for corn, and gold for gold.
In other words cash is like water, you can't distinguish one portion of it from another, once it's in the bucket it's all water, and a cup of it isn't a particular cup, its just a cup.
The ultra-rich understand this concept. But most of us don't really think about the consequences. In other words, if they cut "entitlements" they essentially reduce the amount of cash available to certain segments of society, in effect, raising their taxes. So if they cut mortgage reductions and retirement savings, they are actually RAISING the taxes of the middle class.
Time for this meme to make it to the Tea Partiers. The ultra-wealthy are simply demanding that the taxes of less wealthy people be raised. Since they can afford to buy politicians and television networks and tour buses they are able to spread disinformation to make it seem that they are protecting our freedoms while in fact they are RAISING OUR TAXES!