It's time to face up to Medicare's problem

So says Bill Clinton. Yes, Bill Clinton.

Former President Bill Clinton, still widely considered one of his party’s foremost politicians, said on Wednesday that Democrats should cut a “reasonable” deal with Republicans on Medicare savings rather than conclude from Tuesday’s upset in a special Congressional election that bashing Republicans on the issue is the key to a party comeback in 2012.

But he knows that Democrats don't really believe in leadership:

But Mr. Clinton said he feared that Democrats would conclude “that we shouldn’t do anything.”

“I completely disagree with that,” he said. “I think there are a lot of things we can do to bring down Medicare costs.”

The former President recognizes the threat:

Mr. Clinton, with some passion, returned to the topic at the end of an hour-long interview. “I think the Democrats are going to have to be willing to give up, maybe, some short-term political gain by whipping up fears on some of these things — if it’s a reasonable Social Security proposal, a reasonable Medicare proposal. We’ve got to deal with these things. You cannot have health care devour the economy.”

Yes, but it's such good politics.

Extra - The only Democrat-proposed budget in the Senate gets zero votes. Finally, bipartisanship! It's to do nothing, but still.