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Jeb Bush learned Thursday that it’s still politically treacherous to talk about entitlement reform, even though an overhaul of Social Security and Medicare has become widely accepted in Republican circles. At a forum Wednesday in Manchester, N.H., organized by Americans for Prosperity, a leading conservative group, Mr. Bush said he wanted to “phase out” Medicare in its current form for the entitlement program’s future beneficiaries, while protecting it for people receiving benefits now. (Reinhard, 7/23)

Jeb Bush defended comments he made Wednesday night in which he seemed to advocate the “phasing out” of Medicare, after he was confronted during a town hall here Thursday afternoon by an elderly woman who said she was worried about losing benefits. (Stokols, 7/23)

Jeb Bush, under fire from Democrats for saying he would “phase out” Medicare, said Thursday the program has to be reformed because of unsustainable costs in the long run. “It’s an actuarially unsound health care system,” Bush told the crowd at a town hall in New Hampshire, adding that “$50 trillion dollars of debt has been accrued and if we do nothing, that’s the burden that we’re going to place on your children and grandchildren.” (Jackson, 7/23)

Bush said the attacks underscore the real problem. "It took less than a day for me to be attacked for the very thing that I predicted would happen and that's just ridiculous. We need to have a grown-up conversation about these issues," Bush said to reporters after the town hall. Bush promised he would not seek to change benefits for people who already have them, and that pushing for reforms is the only way to save the system from crumbling under mountains of debt for future generations. (Spodak, 7/24)