http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-limits-of-a-compromise-on-the-debt-ceiling/2011/07/21/gIQAcWRhSI_story.html?hpid=z3The limits of a compromise on the debt ceiling
By Eugene Robinson,
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Do we want a government that ensures medical care for senior citizens and the poor? According to a recent Post poll, 72 percent of Americans oppose cutting spending on Medicaid as a way to reduce the debt; 54 percent oppose raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67.
Do we want a government that provides retirees with an adequate baseline income? Fifty-three percent of Americans oppose changes to Social Security that would reduce the rate at which benefits rise over time, according to the Post poll. These entitlements are sacred cows not just for Democrats but Republicans as well. Across both parties, Americans would rather see increased taxes on the well-to-do.
Far-right conservatives who harbor a radically different vision — of a much smaller government without the wherewithal to provide this kind of safety net — now control the House of Representatives and the Republican Party. In the debt-ceiling debate, they have rejected long-term solutions that have conceded most of what they demand. They want it all.
Progressives who say no — who acknowledge that we must reduce the debt but in ways that do not kill economic growth or gut entitlements — are being partisan for the best possible reason: Much is subject to compromise, but not our future as a great nation.