Social Security and Medicare defenders often say that the public doesn’t understand the threat that Republicans pose to these programs.  Indeed, many Republicans proclaim support for both while pushing proposals to undermine them.  But lately it seems as if Republicans are going out of their way to lay bare their intentions – or, as some put it, “to say the quiet part out loud.” Earlier this week, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said during an interview that Social Security and Medicare should no longer be mandatory spending programs