There was no mistaking the message that two members of the Senate sent forth Sunday morning. In an interview on Fox News Sunday, two major players in the Medicare/deficit/entitlements debate--Sen. Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a Democrat and the Senate majority whip--signaled there was a chance for a Democratic and Republican deal in the offing, at least for Medicare. Corker is an important figure in the Medicare debate, and his words to host Chris Wallace say a lot. Durbin is in a leadership position, and his words count for a lot, too.

Corker told Wallace:

"We'll know when the president is serious by virtue of a process that's set up where he is actually at the table and whether he begins to say publicly to the American people, to all Americans, that he understands that Americans are only paying 1/3 of the costs of Medicare and that has to change for the program to be here down the road."

In other words, seniors don't pay enough for their healthcare and should pay more, or, in wonkspeak, they should have "more skin in the game." The one-third figure, which I had never heard before, may be emerging as a new talking point--or rationale--for requiring them to pay more. (Never mind that a few weeks ago advocates for seniors told a subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee that Medicare seniors pay about 15 percent of their income on healthcare, compared to about five percent for younger groups.)

Durbin told Wallace (presumably referring to the "more-skin-in-the-game" proposals out there):

"We've said let's put everything on the table, and I want to thank Bob for saying that. I think what Bob Corker just said from his side is a basic set of principles that both parties can rally around."

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Fox-News-Smoke-Signals-De-by-Trudy-Lieberman-130324-217.html