These things often take longer to unwind themselves than you'd expect. Still, the CBO projections are pretty clear, and we now know that Social Security is officially in deficit this year. Medicare has been so for a long time. In truth, Medicare is where the real troubles lie. I have only seen a handful of politicians try to address this honestly. Chris Christie and Paul Ryan are who come to mind. They are both Republicans, so if there are any Democrats out there talking about it, please excuse me for not remembering their names.
The 2011 SS deficit is expected to reverse in 2012 and does not represent a short-term crisis. It would be much more sensible to bring up dates like 2025 -- when SS is projected to start dipping into principal -- and 2037 -- when the principal would be exhausted, if no policies are changed [1]. I support long-term planning to remedy the situation, but it seems to hinder productive discussion when someone implies SS will be unable to send out checks tomorrow or in the next decade.
Medicare: Chris Christie is a state governor so has no meaningful relationship to Medicare; you are probably referring to proposals to cut Medicaid benefits for the poor/indigent. This is not very similar to issues affecting Medicare. Paul Ryan does have a legitimate proposal for limiting Medicare growth (I suspect it will increase inefficiency and decrease health outcomes overall, maybe disproportionately for the poor), but it is a legitimate approach.
But: the stimulus & healthcare reform both already contain several very serious efforts to improve Medicare efficiency long-term, especially IPAB. Its short term savings are relatively small, but this is a deeply good (Democrat-associated) proposal.
I'm still trying to get my mind around your attitude that "these things often take longer to unwind". If it takes longer than fifty years to unwind, I'm thinking perception bias on your part.
