As the GOP morphed into a battering ram and single-handedly passed their tax reform bill late last year, the attention of our wider society remained gripped by the veritable corporate giveaway’s broader implications. Yet amid the chorus of clamoring analyses, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan issued a foreboding statement, signaling the devastation that likely laid ahead.

In no uncertain terms, Ryan gave voice to his party’s deep-seated desire, to gut the so-called entitlement programs of Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid. Unwilling to march the GOP into a bloodying election year fight, party bosses indicated that entitlement reform efforts wouldn’t come to fruition in 2018.

But as 2019 draws near, the chatter of hedging entitlements grows louder. In fact just recently, Rep. Steve Stivers, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, echoed the prior sentiments of his colleagues, stating “We need to come together. I think we need to say, ‘You give a little, we give a little’ and figure out how to sustain Medicare and Social Security into the future.” Unmistakable code for expenditure slashing.

So there it is, the long-delayed sight of the supposed deficit hawks awakening from their slumber. They gleefully blew-up the deficit, and now they predictably want to bludgeon society’s most vulnerable to balance out the $1 trillion shortfall they created.

What fine constituent-minded public servants they are.