The ideological debate in this country is not about rich versus the poor.
Instead it is about whether the government should serve the rich or whether it should serve the rich and the middle class.
The poor? Fuck the poor.
Any scraps the poor get are despite the political efforts that occur in public, not because of them.
And that includes those of the most liberal/progressive of megaphones, the Netroots. Which is decisively tilted towards protecting the interests of the middle class, even if that means at the expense of the poor.
Want proof? The debate regarding entitlement spending vs deficit cutting tells us all we need to know.
Anyone who's followed this debate knows of the "Catfood Commission" and the howls of anger and denunciation directed at anyone who would breathe a word that could be interpreted as being open to the possibility of changing Social Security eligbility formulas, or means testing, so on and so forth.
Social Security is sacred turf. That's the consensus on 'the left.'
Ditto for Medicare. Paul Ryan's plan was met with outrage for trying to privatize that important system. Lesser suggestions--such as changing eligibility formulas, means-testing, etc--will be treated with the same fire and brimstone reserved for those making similar suggestions for Social Security.
Which brings us to the current debt debate in Washington, D.C.
Whether we like it or not, the Republicans control the checkbook. It's in their possession. Now, that does not mean cave and give them everything they want.
But, it does mean that they are going to get their pound of flesh in some cases. Thats' the nature of negotiations where both parties have some leverage over the others.
So, in such negotiations, people on 'our' side have to prioritize which programs must be protected at all costs, and which are of lesser priority.
Which two programs are considered sacrosanct and must be protected at all costs?
Social Security and Medicare.
So, where does that leave the inevitable concessions to the Republicans to fall?
On Medicaid.
Because, the base of the Democratic party is not poor. It is middle class. Similarly, the Netroots are middle class to affluent, older, white. Social Security and Medicare are their programs.
Medicaid? That is for poor people, for young people. For those without a seat at the table. For those who don't blog or attend Netroots Nations events.
Compare the amount of attention Medicaid funding got during the healthcare reform debate vs the public option.
Compare the amount of attention Medicaid funding gets from the liberal/progressive blogosphere compared to Social Security and Medicare.
To be clear, it's important that Social Security and Medicare be protected against Republican efforts to destroy them.
But, the Netroots and liberal activists have made it quite clear they have a double standard when it comes to Social Security/Medicare vs Medicaid.
Just to put things in a little perspective:
For DK4, (in terms of tags) there have been 3050 Medicare diaries, and 2713 Social Security diaries.
There have been 1058 diaries tagged for Medicaid.
Poltiicans are not allowed to touch a single hair on the head of the former two programs. But, significant cuts to Medicaid? Well, yeah, that sucks but as long as Social Security and Medicare go untouched, we'll live with it.
One will see a few articles or posts noting the importance of Medicaid, but no threats to leave the party of Democrats cut Medicaid. (Joan McCarter has been one of the few voices consistently beating the drum on this, to her great credit). No sweeping mass hysteria stating that if the Democrats cut Medicaid, it will have abandoned its roots and force 'progressives' to abandon it.
That kind of rhetoric is reserved for 'their' programs--Social Security and Medicare.
So, where does that leave us? In the Biden-led debt discussions, you can bet that the majority of cuts are going to come out of Medicaid. It doesn't have a constituency, people are not going to quit the Democratic party because it gets cut.
People on the left have a right to express horror when that happens. But, they do not have a right to act surprised, or quite frankly to point fingers.