THE HILL: White House: Trump hasn’t shifted on not cutting entitlements.

President Trump has not changed his position on protecting entitlement programs from funding cuts, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.

After last month’s GOP victory on tax reform, many Republicans are calling for changes to the social safety net as a way to cut government spending. But, asked about Trump’s repeated campaign pledge to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Huckabee Sanders said he doesn’t support cuts to the programs.

“The president hasn’t changed his position at this point,” she said at a White House briefing, adding that conversations with lawmakers are ongoing.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has set his eyes on entitlement reform for 2018.

“We’re going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit,” he said in an interview last month.

Medicare and Medicaid “are the big drivers of debt,” Ryan said, “so we spend more time on the health-care entitlements, because that’s really where the problem lies, fiscally speaking.”

Ryan said Trump is beginning to warm to the idea of slowing the spending growth in entitlements.

My suggestion: Cut entitlements, then add a box on the tax form where taxpayers can donate money to make up the difference. And allow them to check a box to make their donation public. Then when people complain, we can look to see if they’re doing their part.