Medicare is a program that on balance transfers wealth from the poorest, brownest, and blackest age cohort to the whitest and wealthiest.  What else would you expect of a progressive like Obama?

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This is the lesson in history that has to be taught now.  Ask the remaining old folks who were young during the Depression what it was like to have to defer marriage and families of their own, because they had to help support their old folks.  Ask what it was like to finally get out on their own, only to have to take in the old folks again.

Those are the stories from my family, tragic stories such as that of the grandma whose fiance had to keep putting off the wedding for years while helping his folks.  The couple finally married in 1941.  Then came the war, and he was exempted from the draft because his skills were needed in a munitions plant here.  The overwork killed him.  She was left a widow with an infant and no insurance, no GI Bill, no nothing -- except his dying wish that she continue to take care of his parents as well as hers.  

And she did, so she never married again.  

Premiums in the Exchange would rise for adults under age 65 by three percent (an additional $141 per enrollee in 2014), on average, due to the shift of older adults from Medicare into the pool of lives covered by the Exchange.

Medicare Part B premiums would increase by three percent in 2014, as the deferred enrollment of relatively healthy, lower-cost beneficiaries would raise the average cost across remaining beneficiaries.

In addition, costs to employers are projected to increase by $4.5 billion in 2014 and costs to states are expected to increase by $0.7 billion. In the aggregate, raising the age of eligibility to 67 in 2014 is projected to result in an estimated net increase of $5.6 billion in out-of-pocket costs for people who would otherwise have been covered by Medicare.

For the people who are more interested in the political ramifications than the real life effect on people, I agree with this comment by Jon Walker:

In addition to being a horrible policy that would hurt tens of millions, while producing relatively little savings, agreeing to this bad idea would destroy Democrats current 2012 political advantage which was caused by Republicans embracing Paul Ryan's plan to eliminate Medicare.

Approving this retirement increase just as Democrats were starting to repair the damage done with seniors as a result of voting for Obamacare would be political devastating to the party.

Obama is just ratcheting it up... kicking more people out of medicare and into the private market.

And our numbers meant, with the laws of supply and demand, that we got hit with soaring costs of housing, for rent and then for homes of our own -- the difference in share of take-home pay for housing costs from our parents' generation to ours is striking.  So we had to have two-income families to have homes of our own, and without the child-care facilities ready for our kids yet.  And without the child-care tax deduction that came too late for most of us, yet again.

So we were scolded for not saving enough -- throughout almost half a century now of ever-greater hits to our paychecks for taxes and Social Security and Medicare . . . but we were told that the increases in Social Security for our parents to retire were in return for the promise that the next generation would do the same for us.

Well, you know the story all too well.  

So you also know that we are the generation that went into the streets once before, and if we have to do so again, I hope hope hope that we do.

I still know most of the words by heart. And, I'm originally from Pennsylvania, the Alleghenies, the Coal Mining Region north of Harrisburg and south of Scranton. Catholic, Polish, the whole 9 yards...an eary, strong Hillary supporter. Now: I'm still hopeful. It may sound odd to say in this venue, but I have come to trust that President Obama can move us forward--out of the swamp we found ourselves near the end of this first decade--that he has the best make-up in today's circumstances to do that than anyone else at this point. He is human; there have been missteps (not the least of which is the need to appreciate my down-to-earth Pennsylvania relatives)...but, I genuinely feel that he is getting there & he is growing and has grown tremendously thus far.  

Now the conservatives who've yearned for destruction of Social Security and Medicare can sit back and watch it unraveled and they don't have to take the heat.  They can even make statements in opposition to juice up their political credibility.

Hey.

Wait a second.

A generational war is the last thing Obama or the Democrats need.

last thing the Democrats needed, but that ship has sailed, imo

left port January 8, 2008, ran aground May 31

some may not like hearing this

What are they selling now?  A debt and deficit crisis that isn't a crisis.  Night after night, we get garbage from "experts," all of which does little but make people afraid - just as all their crap reporting did on Iraq.

And they love disaster.  They love the imminent train wreck of default.  They are nearly breathless over it.  So, why wouldn't they be reporting the news in whatever way drives the disaster, cranks up the fear?

Medicare eligibility requirements are not "weeds;" what, exactly, is "weedy" about "you can't get Medicare until you're 67?"  Nothing.

With all due respect to your parents, I don't think you are going to find a majority of people approaching the age of 65 to be feeling that it is reasonable for Obama to be offering to delay their ability to enroll in a government-administered health insurance plan that, you know, actually works.

Honestly, I have no idea where you get these delusional ideas that any of what is happening is serving "us" well; it's just not.

Yesterday, you were proud to boast about the RCP polls that showed Obama's approval rating had soared a whole point.

Yet today, you talk about your parents rather than the RCP polls that show Obama fell behind again, even before the latest concessions.

I don't know why I should vote FOR Obama. I give less than a damn about a supreme court that continues to give corporations the vote.

Second, certainly it is wise man who thinks a giant segment of the population being effected negatively by a policy change is NO reason to question that change.

1. We expect Rs to act like Rs.

2. We don't expect Ds to act like Rs.

3. Obama is acting like an R.

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You need to realize it's in your self interest to vote for Obama if you want to be naked.  Your unwillingness to be pragmatic is ruining the chances for this modern Dem party (which seems to be attracting many former Bush voters).

New Dem motto: If you save appropriately, you won't need the safety net.