Reply #1: Holding your breath is not advised

[gratuitous]

While I don't think the Democrats are stupid enough to cut benefits for current beneficiaries, they're right in there with the Republicans in trying to work out ways to cut benefits for future retirees. The questions holding them up seem to be the timing (if you're now over 55, you're probably mostly okay, under 55 keep an eye on this) and the depth of the cuts. President Obama's comment that "most folks would hardly notice" is the giveaway.

Right now, the battle is being framed with sneering dismissals of any concerns, "Oh, that's just alarmist alarmism. It's never going to happen." When the concerns come true, the dismissals will be re-framed as "Of course it happened; you were just some pony-loving pie-in-the-skyer. If you had been paying attention back in 2011, it was obvious to anyone what was going down." We then move to the end game, when the rhetorical cudgels are deployed, designed to squelch any remaining opposition:

1. Oh, you'd rather have President Palin.
2. The Republicans would have been worse (apparently getting 100% of what they wanted instead of settling for just 98%).
3. It wasn't the President's fault!
4. Shut up.