With "his cruel Republican budget," Representative Paul Ryan has taken aim at three pillars of middle class security, says Katrina vanden Heuvel. And now, the Obama Administration is playing into the hands of the GOP by allowing adjustments to Social Security to be part of the conversation on reducing the deficit. 

On The Ed Show Monday night, vanden Heuvel explained that Social Security is not the source of America’s debt problem. "Social Security and the deficit should not be in the same sentence," vanden Heuvel says. The nation’s broken healthcare system, however, is a serious "source of debt challenge." According to vanden Heuvel, "What is broke and bankrupt is so much of the debate in Washington."

For more, read Katrina vanden Heuvel’s latest column, "An Offensive Response to the Budget Crisis."

—Kevin Gosztola