In Which Zandar Answers Your Burning Questions

Steve M. points out GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare and Social Security killing budget plan and wants to know why the Dems aren't jumping all over this:

The "roadmap" destroys Social Security and Medicare, lowers taxes on the rich, raises taxes on the non-rich, and doesn't balance the budget. Of course Republicans don't want to sign on to it. But only D.C. insiders and political mavens know that Republicans are simultaneously singing Ryan's praises and shunning his actual plan.

So if Republicans want reflected glory from Ryan's plan but are afraid to make the effort to put the plan before the American people, why don't Democrats do it instead?

Real simple answer to this one, bro.  Because it'll make Obama look bad when his Catfood Commission proposes drastic cuts and raising taxes.

In addition to raising the retirement age, which is now set to reach age 67 in 2027, specific cuts under consideration include lowering benefits for wealthier retires and trimming annual cost-of-living increases, perhaps only for wealthier retirees, people familiar with the talks said.

On the tax side, the leading idea is to increase the share of earned income that is subject to Social Security taxes, officials said. Under current law, income beyond $106,000 is exempt. Another idea is to increase the tax rate itself, said a Democrat on the commission.

And of course there's no way Republicans on the CC are going to agree to any tax increases whatsoever, so it's going to have to be all cuts.

So no, Democrats can't say word one about Paul Ryan's plan being bad because the Democratic solution is pretty lousy as well.

Besides, Village douchebags like Mark Halperin are making sure the Dems can't use Social Security as an issue because it hurts bipartisanship:

It is hard to imagine that Obama can be the leader of such a process in 2011 if he takes the current, sky-high level of personal and political mistrust and elevates it further by using Social Security as a weapon of distortion in September and October. And yet it appears that the White House believes there is no contradiction or connection between those two sequential presidential goals. Obama may be a hyper-rational guy, but his current rhetoric on Social Security defies logic if he wants to have a productive 2011.

So no, Dems aren't going to do jack squat about this.  Saturday's trial balloon attack just got gunned down for a reason, and now the administration will plead bipartisanship when people ask them why they're not attacking harder on it.

That's the point.