Naturally, one can never trust a Republican on anything to do with protecting people’s general welfare.

Nevertheless, I am actually not opposed to reforming Medicare and similar programs. The bottom line is the population is aging, the pyramid is going to become top heavy, people live longer, but generally start work later in life because a university degree is now virtually a necessity. Given the chance, the GOP would simply destroy Medicare or look for an opportunity to privatize the whole thing. The pragmatic option for me is to reform these programs so that the basic ratio of dependent vs. working stays the same so the programs are long-term sustainable. e.g., if people are going to live to 85 on average vs 75 before, then they should expect to work a few years longer and not be receiving Medicare and pensions until later. Of course, this has to be tied in with reform of labor laws so people do end up working the same percentage of their life expectancy.