It's funny how the elderly are the biggest supporters of the GOP, isn't it? Republicans have fought against Social Security from the beginning, and they're still trying to privatize it (though most are careful not to use that word, since it doesn't poll well).
Right-wing Republicans - including, notably, Ronald Reagan - have always railed against Medicare, too, as "socialism." Oddly enough, the elderly are the only age group in which a majority oppose the recent health care reform bill - which doesn't affect them at all - while they cling with affection to their own government-run medical care. Funny, isn't it? What, is Medicare just too good for the rest of the country?
Of course, the elderly tend to be easy to mislead and to frighten, perfect fodder for Fox "News." And they grew up in racist times, so they're easy to convince that a black man in the White House must be the Antichrist. Obviously, he's not one of "us," right? You can see that just by looking at him.
But unlike the young, they reliably vote, so even today's GOP has pledged not to cut Social Security or Medicare. Or defense, veterans affairs, and homeland security spending, either - leaving them with a vow to cut government spending without touching the places where we actually spend it.
Well, I suppose this is no different than millions of middle class Americans supporting policies that hurt them and benefit only the wealthy, is it? Now that anonymous corporate money can legally flow into our political system, we're on the cusp of the Republican dream: government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich.
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