Is President Obama Quietly Setting Up Retirees For A Great Betrayal?

In an interview with ABC News on Tuesday – President Obama hinted that he may support raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67-years-old.

As though he was reading straight from Speaker John Boehner's talking points – when asked about raising the eligibility age, the President said, "what is true is we need to strengthen Social Security, we need to strengthen Medicare for future generations, the current path is not sustainable because we've got an aging population and health care costs are shooting up so quickly." If he goes along with Republicans and raises the retirement age now, the President will be complicit in shifting billions of dollars in extra healthcare costs to individuals, businesses, and states. On the other hand, by holding firm on raising taxes on the rich, and getting rid of waste in Medicare by letting that program negotiate discounts with big pharmaceutical companies, Medicare can be turned around. Someone needs to remind the President that it was Democrats who created Medicare – and it's up to Democrats to save it from the Republicans' austerity binge.