What do taxpayers owe the grandparents, and what do grandparents owe the future?

Open phones for people under 40 years old:  How worried are you about Medicare and Social Security being there for you when the time comes? How would you fix it?  Call 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Plus, Dave Rejeski, director of the Science and Technology Innovation Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, explains the video game, Budget Hero, and what it illuminates about the federal budgeting process.

As part of the Brian Lehrer Show's 30 Issues in 30 Days series, the WNYC Data News team is designing interactive visualizations, tools and graphics to illuminate the data behind the issues. Join the full conversation on Social Security and Medicare here.

30 Issues in 30 Days is our election year series on the important issues facing the country this election year. Today: The current state of Medicare and Social Security, and how they might change. Visit the 30 Issue home page for all the conversations.

In choosing Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney is putting the fate of much of the American healthcare system at the top of this year's political agenda. In the New York metro area, where healthcare is a dominant industry and an expensive proposition for consumers and taxpayers, whichever policy prevails will be uniquely felt.

This decision completely alters the narrative of Obama’s presidency. This legislative achievement was the policy priority where the president chose to invest his significant post-election political capital with a Democratic Congress. It wasn't Social Security. It wasn't the tax code. It wasn't immigration reform. It was health care.

And the Supreme Court has let him keep it.

Nicole Gelinas, contributing editor of the Manhattan Institute's City Journal, analyzes the budget proposal announced by Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Tuesday.

Trudy Lieberman, contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review and past president of the Association of Health Care Journalists, talks about how changes to Medicare are affecting doctors and patients.

Carrie Budoff Brown, staff writer for Politico, discusses the potential role of Medicare and Social Security cuts in the debt ceiling negotiations.

→ Listen, Read a Recap and Join the Conversation at It's A Free Country

Jonathan Weisman, reporter at The Wall Street Journal, explains Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan's plan, just unveiled this morning on Capitol Hill.

→ Read A Ryan Budget Plan Glossary and Add Your Comments at It's A Free Country