So-called "progressives" are absolutely losing their collective minds about proposed spending cuts that the incoming Trump administration is planning. The Hill reported Thursday that the administration, which will take power today at noon, has a blueprint that calls for $10.5 trillion in spending reductions over the next ten years.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report last month projecting an increase in the federal budget deficit relative to the gross domestic product (GDP) for the first time since 2009. The deficit for this year is now expected to be $590 billion. As a percentage of GDP, that is 3.2% compared to last year’s 2.5%. It is not good news when the deficit is growing faster than the economy, which is currently growing at 1.4%.

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, which were signed into law on July 30, 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson. These programs, along with Social Security, are collectively referred to as entitlement programs and are taking up a growing proportion of the annual budget. This problem is overshadowed by an even larger danger for Medicare and Social Security: their trust funds are about to dry up.

One of the ways the Obama administration managed to get ObamaCare through Congress was by keeping the cost of the law under $1 trillion. This was accomplished through various budget gimmicks and backloading costs in years at the end of the original budget estimates. These deceptive tactics are how the administration managed to get a score from the Congressional Budget Office purporting that ObamaCare would reduce the deficit by $124 billion.

Looking to stake some ground just weeks before the mid-term election, President Barack Obama, in a speech last week at Northwestern University, dismissed concerns about budget deficits, claiming that ObamaCare is keeping down healthcare costs.

Fewer and fewer doctors in the US are self-employed, and more employed by hospitals. That is a direct result of government policy, sharply accelerated by Obamacare. The trend will be damaging to American health care. It is still possible to reverse the decline, but powerful forces want it to continue.

Democracy and Power 105: The Politician Seeks PowerThe desire to rule is the mother of heresies. —St. John ChrysostomIn America, a politician intentionally selects to enter politics. They seek power in the name of public good, but predominately they seek power. When a person enters Congress or the Presidency, they seek and use the coercive power of government. 

Late last week, the Obama administration announced a month-long push back for second-year Obamacare enrollments, placing the enrollment date conveniently past election day.  With that move, the administration will successfully push back the horrifying optics of disastrous rate hikes, lending a hand to Democrats up for election in 2014.