TRUE: Fixing the federal budget requires changing how entitlement programs spend. “Though American politicians rarely acknowledge it, federal finances are relentlessly deteriorating almost entirely because of automatic growth in entitlement programs. We often lose sight of this reality whenever other events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, a tax cut or an appropriated spending binge, cause a onetime worsening of the federal budget deficit. But such events have very little to do with why federal finances keep worsening year after year. This problem cannot be corrected unless lawmakers reform mandatory spending programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”