Yo Grandma (And Grandpa And Mom And Dad And You And Me)

TW: What if instead of passing a medical prescription benefit for seniors five years ago, Congress and W. Bush had passed universal care. Seniors are medically speaking the most pampered segment of society, they already had universal care, no risk of rescission, no concerns about pre-existing conditions. They also have an income support program in the form of social security.

Why did they get another benefit? Because there are a lot of them and they vote. Add the fact that helping "grandma" has always been a political winner and you have the basis for the largest expansion of entitlements in a generation. It was also fiscally irresponsible. Where were the deficit hawks then? Where were the enraged seniors pounding the table about socialism then?

Seniors are the least supportive of health care reform for a fairly rational reason. They already have the best care in the country, there is only one way for their care to go relatively speaking- down. The relative numbers of seniors is growing getting "seniors" to agree to "change" and slowdowns in the growth of their benefits will become increasingly difficult as their electoral power grows. This is a problem.