The NYT Meant to Say "In Cutting Social Security and Medicare"

March 17, 2017

The politicians who are trying to cut Social Security and Medicare know that these programs are incredibly popular across the political spectrum. For this reason they typically use euphemisms when referring to plans to cut the benefits they provide, like calling for “reform,” “modernization,” or “slowing the growth.”

It is understandable that politicians pushing an unpopular agenda would try to mislead people about their actions, but it’s not clear why the NYT is playing the same game, telling readers in an article on the Trump budget:

“But the early reaction from members of his party on Capitol Hill was muted at best, reflecting in part the discomfort among many of the party’s leaders with a budget that makes no progress on tackling the growth of entitlements.”

The reference to “no progress on tackling the growth of entitlements” is the NYT’s way of saying the budget doesn’t cut Social Security and Medicare. This should be an easy one, it’s shorter and more informative to just describe the issue directly.

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