What they mean by entitlements

Whenever you hear the deficit being discussed, you hear the party on the right discussing entitlement reform, or reducing entitlements.  Sadly, you also hear some of this crap coming from the lips of those who have promised to protect us.  So let's talk a little bit about what they are really talking about.

First of all, who do you think is in that room while they are negotiating what should be cut and what should not be cut.  Let me give you a hint.  There is nobody in that room that will ever need medicare or social security.  They are vested in the federal health and retirement plans in just 5 years.  These are the same plans that they would like to strip from people who do actual work. And of course there is nobody in that room with a net worth of less than a million dollars. 

So, in their viewpoint, what are entitlements?  That's easy, that is anything the government does that benefits you, that does not also benefit them.  They don't need social security or medicare.  They must be entitlements.  Unemployment benefits?   Same thing.  How about Aid to Families with Dependent Children, WIC, food stamps, college grants (or public education in any form), veterans benefits?  None that applies to them.

What you will not hear them talking about is them raising their own taxes, cutting their own salaries and benefits.  Nor will you see them cutting out the loopholes and tax giveaways that their corporate masters receive.

You don't matter.  Your role in this picture is to provide cheap labor then hurry up and die.  And they will raise the specter of welfare mothers cranking out children to increase their income or overpaid government employees (only the ones not in the room) to convince you that they are only taking food out of the mouths of the undeserving.  But of course to them, the undeserving is you.

And if you buy into that, then you deserve what you get.