The beefs are loud as budget cutters attack a "sacred cow "
In crafting his delicate package of budget cuts, Ronald Reagan carefully corralled a herd of "sacred cows"—Veterans Administration disability benefits and Medicare payments for the elderly, among other programs—that he vowed not to touch. Last week, in a move that ensured debate for months to come, the President proposed to chop away at perhaps the most sacred of all cows: Social Security benefits. The plan not only ignited protests from senior citizens' groups around the nation, but finally gave the badly bruised...