Please provide one solid piece of evidence to support your claim that "the Republican Party is hell bent on gutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid".

Just because Rachel Maddow said it, doesn't make it so.

If you can't understand that Social Security is heading for a fiscal cliff (both Parties recognize this), then you don't deserve to be part of the conversation.  The argument is not whether it needs to be fixed, but how to fix it.

The Conservative answer is easy, people live longer - raise the age to qualify.

The Liberal answer is simple too - take more from the wealthy.

BTW - Social Security (a Democratic Program) was not intended to be a Welfare Program.