Millennials and Debt

Matt Yglesias has an interesting post on how those in the Millennial generation should view the debt situation of the U.S. Two of his bullet points caught my eye regarding health care relative to the rest of the budget:

— At any politically plausible margin, it makes more sense to take $1 out of Medicare than to take it out of Social Security. Social Security checks can be used to buy health care services.

— What’s controversial among the public is the desirability of reducing projected increases in Medicare spending, what’s controversial among wonks is the desirability of different methods of reducing projected increases Medicare spending.

His full list of bullet points nicely blends the issues and perspectives of looking back vs. forward in terms of thinking about how to move toward a sustainable federal budget.