There’s a well-known “don’t-look” technique craftily practiced by Washington politicians to steer clear of third-rail issues better not noticed or dealt with. It’s called not noticing the elephant in the room.

In the current budget deficit battle to chop the titanic $14.3 billion national debt there were several highly expensive elephants not being noticed. Some were noticed briefly, such as tax increases for the super rich, but sent back into their closets.

Unable to chop any fat off the rich or corporation jets or other high finance cost cutters, Republicans eagerly and Democrats reluctantly turned wary eyes on the three most defenseless creatures—Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

After all, they were only about the critical needs of the American people, not wealthy campaign contributors. And in such a contest between the power elite and mere working Americans, the peoples’ elephants could not hide.

The highest powers in Washington topped by President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Leader Harry Reid got together in a closed-door White House conference to carve a deal to balance the budget, extend the national borrowing limit, cut expenses and/or raise revenues, or somehow keep America from defaulting. That is, basically going bankrupt.

So the previously sacred elephants were made visible. Medicare, the traditional third-rail health care for the elderly that Senior Cit...Read More