“Trump’s $3.6 Trillion Budget Cuts Hit His Supporters Hard,” blares the Bloomberg headline. The subject, is of course, President Donald Trump’s leaner budget proposal released Tuesday morning. The Bloomberg story begins by fleshing out the headline: “President Donald Trump’s first full budget would dramatically reduce the U.S. government’s role in society, hitting hard many of the rural, working-poor supporters who propelled him into office as he cuts through the safety net for the poor and disabled, impacting farming communities and inner cities alike.” Why would he, as The Washington Post put it so pathetically, release a “budget that would bolster the rich, [and] remove benefits from the poor”?

The Left has always engaged in craven class warfare, pitting the poor against the rich as if the rich have “stolen” from them. And the Leftmedia’s objective with these supposedly alarming stories is to get Trump’s own supporters questioning their man. Indeed, leftists are always astounded when voters don’t vote for the guy promising them the most goodies, but rather a responsible government.

They can’t fathom such civic responsibility because their statist philosophy is essentially based upon the musings of socialist George Bernard Shaw, who once cynically observed, “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” Likewise, another old saying applies: “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.”

Lost upon these government first-last-and-always statists is that Trump’s real goal is to grow the economy with tax reform, not expand the government dole. Those currently receiving benefits will be able to help themselves once government gets out of the way, whereas the Leftmedia would have people believe Trump’s plan is to push them to the brink of starvation.

As Benjamin Franklin once said, “I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.”

And as the Constitution’s author, James Madison, explained, “Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” Leftists would do well to learn that lesson, and quit demanding that every American always vote for the slick politician who promises the most generous benefits.