So, after the Republican party’s attempt to demolish Medicare results in one of the most Republican districts in the nation flipping Democratic in a special election, Barack Obama completely misses the point:

I want to extend my congratulations to Congresswoman-elect Kathy Hochul for her victory in New York’s 26th Congressional District,” the president said in a statement. “Kathy and I both believe that we need to create jobs, grow our economy, and reduce the deficit in order to outcompete other nations and win the future. Kathy has shown, through her victory and throughout her career, that she will fight for the families and businesses in western New York, and I look forward to working with her when she gets to Washington.

So, what’s here? We have:

• Cutting the deficit (shafting the poor and middle class)
• Outcompeting other nations (no support for labor or worker rights)
• Winning the future (Tripe so meaningless that Newt Gingrich came up with the term over a decade ago).

What we don’t have:

• Any meaningful mention of ordinary Americans.
• Any mention of the social safety net.
• Any mention of Medicare.
• Any mention of Medicare.
• Any mention of Medicare.

And did I mention that he neglected to mention protecting the elderly or Medicare?

Note that while this is going on, Joe Biden, negotiating for the Democrats, has not taken Medicare off the table:

Vice President Joe Biden set a goal of at least $1 trillion in budget cuts from negotiations with congressional leaders on the federal debt as talks turned to Medicare, a contentious issue that risks replicating a partisan divide on Capitol Hill.

Democrats in the meeting yesterday ruled out concessions on Medicare without Republican agreement to raise tax revenue, a step the party’s leaders so far have rejected, according to someone familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity. Biden underscored the issue in remarks to reporters afterward.

(emphasis mine)

So the deal is, so long as they can get some token tax increases from Republicans, probably directed at labor unions and single mothers, they can agree to cut Medicare.

This does not bode well for 2012.

<facepalm>