Aye, there it is. The entitlement was done to take the wind out of the sails of the Democrats and to buy the vote of the elderly. Question is, was it necessary? To a party hack who is only concerned with party politics every advantage is necessary, but such types can't usually see the forest for the trees, self-proclaimed political savviness notwithstanding. Such entitlements are nearly impossible to eliminate. If the Republican Party is going to adopt any principle willy-nilly just to get re-elected so that they can further adopt any principle willy-nilly, then politics is more a masturbatory practice of 'raid the treasury' and 'I can't work in the private sector so I'll do anything to keep my job'. That's as much a threat to the Republic as anything else. Democrats and modern liberalism are still a greater threat, I'd say, but allegiances should be given to principles, not to parties.