“Entitlement reform is a must for us to not become Greece.”As we’ll see, the idea is that entitlements are not entitlements. Of course, that makes no sense at all. Graham quickly slipped in that “entitlement reform” meant addressing Medicare and Social Security spending. Graham correctly pointed out that we cannot balance the federal budget merely by making cuts in so-called discretionary spending. Graham, like many conservatives, pictures entitlement reform as a good thing that will appeal to his conservative supporters.
We all the time play with political words. We're not anti-abortion, no, we're pro-life. We're not pro-abortion, we're pro-choice. Anything to hide our intent. Republicans aren't against Social Security; no, they are for entitlement reform.
But—here is the problem. You probably couldn't find twenty republican voters who actually want to cut Medicare and Social Security. Many Republicans, however, strongly support “entitlement reform.” All the same, Graham let it slip during the debate that we need to cut Medicare and Social Security so we don't turn into Greece. Whatever.
Comparing the United States to Greece is obviously silly. The United States is an economic powerhouse, while the United States dollar is the world's reserve currency. Greece does not even have its own currency and does not control their own monetary policy (they use the Euro).
Passing over that, however, let's look at that nasty word—"entitlement.” The word “entitlement” brings up all kinds of nasty images: self-entitled welfare moochers, self-entitled high school students who think the world owes them straight A's, lazy, self-entitled government workers who sleep on the job. Plenty of stereotypes.
Instead, however, what “entitlement” actually means is that you are legally entitled to get something. I am entitled to withdraw money from my bank account. Retired people pay into Medicare and Social Security during their working years, and they are entitled to draw on them when they are no longer working. Yet, if I talk with one of my many Republican friends about “entitlements,” they angrily explain that Social Security is not an entitlement because they paid into Social Security and they are fully entitled to withdraw the money when they retire. We have heard that a lot, don't we? It doesn’t make a bit of sense, does it? Social Security is not an entitlement because, drum roll, we are entitled to receive it? As if “entitlement” and “entitled” mean opposite things. Huh?
How did that poor word get so twisted? Well, we have heard people use “entitlement” as a dirty word for so many years that we now think it is bad to be entitled to something. It's reached the point that many people think, like my Republican friends, that they are somehow not entitled to receive entitlements. They are, however, they say, entitled to receive Social Security. Or something like that. Doesn’t make much sense, but there we are.
If we look at the federal budget, there are basically five sections: Medicare, Social Security, National Defense, Medicaid, and everything else. If we want to balance the budget by making cuts, where do we go? That’s a problem. No Republican will vote to cut National Defense. That leaves “entitlements:” especially Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Those are top targets. But why? For the Republican Party's electoral support comes mostly from elderly voters who depend on Medicare and Social Security to survive. Of course, elderly voters want to cut neither Social Security or Medicare. Worse, attempts to cut Medicaid only appeal to elderly, conservative voters until they figure out that Medicaid keeps the nursing homes open. As soon as elderly voters figure out that Graham wants to balance the budget by cutting benefits for elderly voters, his political career will crash to the ground. As long as he talks about entitlement reform, however, he can pretend to be fiscally responsible. It's all about words.
What's going on there? The Republican Party depends heavily on elderly voters. Elderly voters are not stupid. If Republicans are foolish enough to vote huge cuts in Medicare and Social Security, their political movement will disappear into the history books. Members of Congress know this. So what can they say? What is their alternative?
That's easy. Smoke and mirrors gave Graham his only logical alternative. It all comes down to a word. Yes, the word “entitlement” is the rhetorical equivalent of the smoke and mirrors used by stage magicians. When he said “entitlement reform,” Graham stirred up all the negative images about self-entitled goof-offs and moochers. Did he have a serious policy proposal in mind? Of course not. He talked like a fiscally conservative person who wants to stop spending money on undeserving people. In real life, the numbers don't support any policy like that. “Entitlement reform,” which really means “cut Social Security and Medicare,” would be a political disaster for Republicans if they ever enact it. Which they obviously won’t.
Instead of producing actual policy proposals, Graham, like many other Republicans, simply reversed the meaning of the word “entitlement” to create a fog of non-existent public policy. Are we really entitled to receive Social Security because it’s not an entitlement? Honestly, how can anyone twist language into a knot like that? And how can voters fail to see through it? For conservatives make no secret of their wish to cut Social Security and Medicare.
Anyway, Republicans have been fearmongering about Social Security’s supposed impending collapse ever since I took my first summer job in 1970. They’ve been wrong for more than 50 years, and silly word games don’t help.
But—here is the problem. You probably couldn't find twenty republican voters who actually want to cut Medicare and Social Security. Many Republicans, however, strongly support “entitlement reform.” All the same, Graham let it slip during the debate that we need to cut Medicare and Social Security so we don't turn into Greece. Whatever.
Comparing the United States to Greece is obviously silly. The United States is an economic powerhouse, while the United States dollar is the world's reserve currency. Greece does not even have its own currency and does not control their own monetary policy (they use the Euro).
Passing over that, however, let's look at that nasty word—"entitlement.” The word “entitlement” brings up all kinds of nasty images: self-entitled welfare moochers, self-entitled high school students who think the world owes them straight A's, lazy, self-entitled government workers who sleep on the job. Plenty of stereotypes.
Instead, however, what “entitlement” actually means is that you are legally entitled to get something. I am entitled to withdraw money from my bank account. Retired people pay into Medicare and Social Security during their working years, and they are entitled to draw on them when they are no longer working. Yet, if I talk with one of my many Republican friends about “entitlements,” they angrily explain that Social Security is not an entitlement because they paid into Social Security and they are fully entitled to withdraw the money when they retire. We have heard that a lot, don't we? It doesn’t make a bit of sense, does it? Social Security is not an entitlement because, drum roll, we are entitled to receive it? As if “entitlement” and “entitled” mean opposite things. Huh?
How did that poor word get so twisted? Well, we have heard people use “entitlement” as a dirty word for so many years that we now think it is bad to be entitled to something. It's reached the point that many people think, like my Republican friends, that they are somehow not entitled to receive entitlements. They are, however, they say, entitled to receive Social Security. Or something like that. Doesn’t make much sense, but there we are.
If we look at the federal budget, there are basically five sections: Medicare, Social Security, National Defense, Medicaid, and everything else. If we want to balance the budget by making cuts, where do we go? That’s a problem. No Republican will vote to cut National Defense. That leaves “entitlements:” especially Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Those are top targets. But why? For the Republican Party's electoral support comes mostly from elderly voters who depend on Medicare and Social Security to survive. Of course, elderly voters want to cut neither Social Security or Medicare. Worse, attempts to cut Medicaid only appeal to elderly, conservative voters until they figure out that Medicaid keeps the nursing homes open. As soon as elderly voters figure out that Graham wants to balance the budget by cutting benefits for elderly voters, his political career will crash to the ground. As long as he talks about entitlement reform, however, he can pretend to be fiscally responsible. It's all about words.
What's going on there? The Republican Party depends heavily on elderly voters. Elderly voters are not stupid. If Republicans are foolish enough to vote huge cuts in Medicare and Social Security, their political movement will disappear into the history books. Members of Congress know this. So what can they say? What is their alternative?
That's easy. Smoke and mirrors gave Graham his only logical alternative. It all comes down to a word. Yes, the word “entitlement” is the rhetorical equivalent of the smoke and mirrors used by stage magicians. When he said “entitlement reform,” Graham stirred up all the negative images about self-entitled goof-offs and moochers. Did he have a serious policy proposal in mind? Of course not. He talked like a fiscally conservative person who wants to stop spending money on undeserving people. In real life, the numbers don't support any policy like that. “Entitlement reform,” which really means “cut Social Security and Medicare,” would be a political disaster for Republicans if they ever enact it. Which they obviously won’t.
Instead of producing actual policy proposals, Graham, like many other Republicans, simply reversed the meaning of the word “entitlement” to create a fog of non-existent public policy. Are we really entitled to receive Social Security because it’s not an entitlement? Honestly, how can anyone twist language into a knot like that? And how can voters fail to see through it? For conservatives make no secret of their wish to cut Social Security and Medicare.
Anyway, Republicans have been fearmongering about Social Security’s supposed impending collapse ever since I took my first summer job in 1970. They’ve been wrong for more than 50 years, and silly word games don’t help.
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