Two teabagger imperatives, not raising the debt limit, & giving retired seniors vouchers to pay for individual insurance on the private insurance market constitute a devastating attack by Republicans on two of the three legs of their own support stool the military and the wealthy elderly (last third, social conservatives).
According to the Congressional Research Service, the only way the U.S. may avoid having to increase the debt ceiling would be to eliminate nearly all discretionary spending, cut nearly 70 percent of spending on mandatory programs, increase revenue collection by nearly two-thirds, or make a combination of these steps in the second half of fiscal 2011.
source, Military.com
So why aren't Democrats attacking Republicans' strength (or perceived strength), their support for the military?
"Not raising the debt ceiling might imperil the troops -- military spending is discretionary spending, and that spending is the first to be cut if we cannot agree to raise the debt ceiling" -- why aren't we stressing this more?
As for the Ryan medicare plan, wealthy seniors have the most to lose most with Ryan.
Wealthy people either realize, or have financial managers to advise them, that the one thing that can actually wipe them out is an uninsured large expenditure. Now, there are only two things, really, that are potentially so expensive that a moderately wealthy person would get seriously dinged. One of these would be a liability claim (slip and fall on the property, say). But umbrella liability insurance is available to protect against that sort of thing, and for very reasonable rates.
What wealthy seniors, especially those with health problems, might not be able to get, though, is health insurance on the individual market if they have pre-existing conditions. And there, they are very screwed. A two month stay in the ICU for an uninsured wealthy (not investment-banker wealthy, just run-of-the-mill wealthy, net worth of 2-3 million) person could easily wipe out 10 - 30% of their total wealth. And how are seniors, automatically losing their employer-based coverage when they retire (unless they're in Congress of course) going to get health insurance when they've had a pre-cancerous mole removed, or have diabetes, or a heart condition, or...jeez, anything?
You ever tried, as a relatively young, relatively healthy person, to get insurance in the individual pool? It's a nightmare. Do you think John McCain, say, if he had to go out and get health insurance would ever, in a million, billion, trillion years qualify for a policy? If you're poor, uninsured end-of-life medical expense is a big financial "screw you" to the hospital, and/or medical provider and a big loss for the hospital/medical provider to be recouped on the backs of those who can pay. But if you're wealthy and uninsured, one heart attack, a bad bout with pneumonia, or just that last year of life that is so expensive for the elderly, takes away much of what you've earned for your entire life.