The Republican party has changed a lot, a dramatic lot, since the 80's. Wouldn't be surprised if they tried what your talking about.

Besides worrying about their own Medicare and social security changing, most seniors have family members who will some day be in the same boat they are. And, most seniors do NOT want to end Medicare and social security as they know it. In other words, seniors (and the poor and minorities, because gopers want to cut a lot of education programs) will come out in droves to vote for Obama. Then, he needs to get tough with them.

they get "bupkes".

Stealing from our children and grandchildren. How disgusting.

that they depended on in their old age. It's not always about "me."

My parents (in their late 80s and mid 90s) have told me they don't know how they would have survived these years without their Social Security (and they have savings and dividends). We, their children, are nearing retirement age ourselves. They are fiercely protective of Social Security for those who come after them.

They are interested in moving moderates in a few key selected swing states.

think about the Obama debt negotiations and how every statement from anyone was scrutinized. There is no way they could get away with a betrayal of that magnitude.

they are being deceitful

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Not everybody is out for themselves.

Lots of elderly whose drivers' licenses have expired in states like PA can thus no longer vote. The way I see it (as a Medicare/Social Security recipient), it could happen to any of us. And yes, you are right, they will see us as expendable and not worthy of those "entitlements" we paid into for all our working lives. Now's the time to aggressively spread the message to those who might, as you say, get complacent. I'm guessing not many of our children/grandchildren are too enamored of having us depend on them for our livelihood, even if they no longer have to pay into the SS fund--if they're even lucky enough to have incomes of their own. One has only to read about the nation as it was before FDR and Johnson to see the future will be bleak indeed.

Note to Seniors: Save your right to vote, then get out and do it!!

By the time she required full-time care, all four of her children were receiving SS and Medicare. It was her wish to stay in her home with her kids taking turns caring for, and it was a situation that went on for 5+ years. This arrangement would not have been possible had her children didn't have those benefits, instead having to scrounge for money to live off of and worry about where their own healthcare was going to come from.

I suspect many younger seniors will realize that although they've "got theirs", it will still be to their detriment if their children's benefits are taken away. A person who is 65 will have to consider what's going happen when they're 85 and they won't be able to rely on their 65 yo children for assistance because they're facing many more years of full-time work as their benefits were taken away from them.

And then there are those of us without children, we'll really be screwed...

They want to put Medicaid on a voucher system. My mother had a stroke and was paralyzed on her left side. She ended up in the nursing home. She went through her savings very quickly as at that time it cost about $7000+ a month. Once she depleted her savings, she ended up on Medicaid (Medi-Cal) in California. She lived in a nursing home for 10 years until she passed. When the Repubs strip Medicaid, this will put the burden on the family to pay for these costs or to provide 24 hour care in the home.
This is a concern to all, seniors and all families.