30. Push to Cut Deficit Collides With Politics as Usual So it goes in Campaign 2010, where cutting the deficit is a big issue, but where support for doing some of the hard things to achieve that is running into politics as usual. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the debate—or lack thereof— on the nation’s spending on big entitlement programs. According to the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office, spending on the big three entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—is to rise by 70 percent, 79 percent, and 99 percent, respectively, over the next 10 years. Source: The Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2010 If politicians continue to avoid debating the projected increases in these three entitlement programs, how do you think the fiscal imbalance will change? If Congress holds the budget deficit at $3.1 trillion, who will pay for the projected increases in expenditure?