Public Supports Medicare, Social Security Promise Quilt, Changes to Affordable Care Act

Survey Says: Americans Supports Medicare

"As the debate over the federal budget resumes, a new United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll shows that most Americans are concerned about growing dependency on federal entitlements, but still resist major spending cuts in programs benefiting the poor and the elderly."

". . . the survey found Americans unconvinced that safety-net programs represent a major source of the deficit problem.  . . .  Given that diagnosis, it is perhaps not surprising that relatively few respondents said they would support major reductions in safety-net programs to reduce the deficit.  Fully three-fourths of those polled said Social Security should be cut 'not at all' to reduce the deficit, and exactly four-fifths said the same about Medicare."

Some new insights here; you should give this a careful reading.

The Promise of Social Security

From NCPSSM:  "One of our biggest pet peeves is the ongoing attempt by so many in Washington to use intergenerational warfare to try and convince younger Americans their parents and grandparents are nothing more than 'greedy geezers' bankrupting this nation.  While poll after poll show that argument has not gained the traction its purveyors had hoped for, it’s still an all too common political propaganda tool used by politicians whose real goal is to destroy Social Security and Medicare under the guise of deficit reduction.  This, in spite of the fact that future generations could need these programs even more, as their incomes have faltered and they’re almost as likely to see a dinosaur as they are a pension."

Read more and share your story.

GOP Makes Gains

"While Democrats will claim victory in the impending deal to extend the payroll tax cut through 2012, Republicans have also won some fodder for their base on a key issue: They’ve managed to slice off a piece of the health care reform law -- albeit a fairly small piece.  A summary of the deal circulated to allies and insiders by the House GOP leadership boasts that they’ve extracted concessions worth $11.6 billion from the Affordable Care Act in negotiations with Democrats.  The cuts hit the prevention fund and provider reimbursements -- it’s not a big chunk of the nearly $1 trillion law, but it’s a salient political win for Republicans after Democrats repeatedly resisted efforts to cut the ACA in the Super Committee and December deal."

MORE:  From Kaiser Health News -- Tentative ‘Doc Fix’ Deal Would Cut Health Law’s Prevention Fund by $5B

For Your Information

Really America, Most Mass. Residents Like Health Reform

***