What we're seeing in this Medicare discussion is only one of the Symptoms of something that goes much deeper. I don't need to tell you how the middle class has been methodically eroded away these last decades; from depressed wages to wealth disparity to unemployment.
There is in fact class warfare going on in this country and it has been for generations and unfortunately the middle and lower class have been losing at every turn. To say that it does not exist is to divorce oneself from reality.
Aside from the fact that Republicans would prefer that ALL government be outsourced to the private sector there is something much deeper that both Dems and Reps aren't willing to tell the American people. But the writing is clearly on the wall. The unemployment numbers will NEVER change and will only become worse. The reality is we have somewhere closer to 20% unemployment when you consider "under employment". Considering that in the discussion and compounding the issue of the Baby Boomer retirements, the future for both SS and Medicare is essentially doomed.
If Republicans honestly believed that their budget would produce less than 2% unemployment then why would Medicare need reform, if more Americans were actually paying into it? That's a question that hasn't been asked.
We, as a country, have gone thru 4 generations now of depressed wages, trickle down economics and now the largest disparity of wealth on the planet. That chicken is coming home to roost and it's no coincidence that when an executive makes on average 400 times the salary of the average employee that the social safety net we all depend on is not far from collapse.
But this Medicare and SS problem is only a Symptom of a greater disease and THAT is what really needs to be discussed. It's certainly not a discussion that ANY politician is willing to have and all of the kabuki theater that plays out in Washington is nothing more than lip service. Until Americans wake up to what the root cause of the problem is then we are on a collision course towards failure.
Forget the debt, forget the deficit, forget healthcare the REAL and ONLY problem this country has is that our "elected" representation does NOT represent the interests of their constituents but rather their corporate campaign donors and special interests. Until all soft money is fully and completely banned from the political and lobbying process nothing will change.
Now that is a discussion that we should really have.