The NYT seriously misrepresented public attitudes toward Social Security and Medicare. It referred to Social Security and Medicare as:

“entitlement programs that represent core values to many liberal voters.”

Actually polls routinely show that overwhelming majorities of voters across the political spectrum support Social Security and Medicare. It is not just liberals who care about this program. This is why politicians who want to cut these programs need cover from their political opponents. If they just said they wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare, they would quickly be voted out of office.