REMEMBER THE PHRASE "GUNS OR BUTTER"?

It indicated the supposed trade-off between military spending and domestic spending and the debate on Medicare has now brought the concept back.   Heather at Crooks & Liars has a video clip of U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbyist putting the choices very starkly to Chris Matthews and LexisNexis has the relevant part of the transcript:

MATTHEWS: You want to get rid of it. What do you mean fix it? Your party wants to get rid of it.

(CROSSTALK)

FEEHERY: I don`t want to get rid of it. They don`t want to get rid of it.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: You want to pass out these medical food stamps you want to give people.

(CROSSTALK)

FEEHERY: They want to save it so that people in the future can get it.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Yes. Well, good luck.

FEEHERY: There`s a lot of good ways to save it, but you have to save it. And the way you do it -- you can`t keep on the way it is going. Otherwise, we all go broke. Do you want a defense Department? We can`t have a Defense Department and an unreformed Medicare system.