Obama’s budget for 2011: expect cuts to Medicare beyond curtailing waste, fraud and abuse

The other day I wrote to PBS ombudsman Mike Getler about use of the term “entitlement programs” to describe Social Security and Medicare in the rants of NewsHour regulars, David Brooks, et al, insisting that the Federal deficit could only be resolved by gutting programs that serve the elderly and those suffering from disabilities.

I noticed that in his most recent column, Brooks used the term “entitlement programs” repeatedly as if to get even with anyone who dared challenge him. As I’ve said before, the usage of “entitlement” is derogatory and implies that Social Security and Medicare recipients are receiving handouts without ever having paid into the system.

This evening during the NewsHour’s weekly analysis of Shields and Brooks, Brooks delivered his usual rant and again with obvious contempt mentioned the necessity for cutting those “entitlement” programs.

However, this time Mark Shields called him on it. Shields noted that “Social Security is self-funding, it’s solvent, and in fact, it’s been bankrolling the rest of the government.”

My satisfaction was short-lived, however. Minutes ago, I read Politico’s item headlined, Medicare cuts likely in W.H. budget:

As President Barack Obama unveils his budget Monday, multiple sources say to expect cuts to Medicare beyond just curtailing waste, fraud and abuse.

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. has for years served its clients without asking whether or not they carried insurance. A close friend, whose late husband was a leading Mayo physician, told me recently that Mayo had always lost money on their Medicare patients.

If Obama’s 2011 budget is passed as is, our seniors may have difficulty finding a doctor who will even see them and if David Brooks get his way, they’ll lose their meager Social Security income as well – never mind that they paid into it with high payroll taxes throughout their working lives.