Elderly woman rips Jeb in townhall: "I paid into that for years - now you want to take it away?

[Hamlette]

141. you don't have to pay in for it to be an entitlement

it is that the law says you are "entitled" if you meet certain eligibility criteria that makes it an entitlement.

For instance, unemployment is an entitlement but you, the worker, do not pay for it. (Except in a couple of states and the workers contribution pays for extras like disability coverage).

The GOP has cried for years was "get rid of entitlements" turning it into a dirty word They rarely go against getting rid of UI entirely because they understand it would be bad for business. (Think Great Depression when there was a slippery slope because no one had any money to buy what you were selling.) Getting rid of social security won't do that to the same extent. But 90% of the medical costs you incur in your life you incur in your last 2 years of life. You'd think getting rid of Medicare would be horrible for the medical sector but they don't raise their voice so much. I suspect part of that is because the Medicare reimbursement is low and they have always bitched about that. They don't want to be seen defending the program when they as a profession have complained so much. But, you can bet they are complaining behind the scenes which is why this goes nowhere.