Should we consider Medicare and Social Security as "entitlements?" Of course and here is why -- no Amercian even comes close to paying for these benefits.

Entitlements:  feeding off the public trough.

47 million folks receive food stamps.  For the most part, they neither pay for nor work for this benefit.

Disability enrollment now extends to more than 8.8 million Americans.  While part of the Social Security contract,  most of this coat is unearned by those who are in need of its benefit.

By presidential degree,  unemployment benefits were extended to 99 weeks for millions of Americans.  This benefit is paid for by employer "donations" and federal expense,  NOT by the recipients.

Medicare is being used to enroll the indigent poor under ObamaCare,  certain disabled youth,  and seniors who qualify for Social Security.  The program is 37 trillion dollars in arrears,  which means that it is essentially an unfunded program although there are  small payroll deductions paid on future Medicare benefits throughout the working lifetime of the citizen.    The average total donation make by potential Medicare benefactors is 30% of what they will receive.  Medicare is,  indeed,  an entitlement,  righteous indignation of the redistributionists,  not withstanding. 

Understand under ObamaCare,  as many as 30 million folks (illegals, the very poor and youth) will be added to Medicare beginning with 2013 at the same time federal funding to that program will be cut by 2%.  

Finally for the sake of this post,  we have Social Security.  The average payout for a retire couple,  with regard to this particular benefit,  will be in the neighborhood of 1 million dollars (per couple).  Obviously,  the average working couple pays nothing close to this benefit total. 

Understand that if an "entitlement" is something you receive from the feds that you have not paid for as a worker bee,  all of the above fits into this category.