But We're Americans, Damn It!

We should be getting our benefits all gilded and served to us on fine china -- FOR FREE!

Well, as this article at Real Clear Politics points out, if you peeled away the essentials of the 2008 national budget for defense, entitlements (like Medicare and Social Security), and debt payments, we had less than $500 billion left. And, at that time the deficit was $460 billion. Therefore, strip away all domestic discretionary spending (highways, education, the FBI) and you could pay the deficit off in one year. But of course, we can't do that. And now the deficit has tripled, thanks to the profligate spending of the Bush era and the necessary stimulus packages he initiated on his way out the door.

As Bruce Bartlett has advocated, a Value Added Tax (VAT) on consumption of goods and services could put a serious dent in the deficit. Entitlements could stand cuts (especially in wasteful ones like Medicare) and the rest could come from discretionary spending (pork projects, industrial subsidies, lower subsidies for agribusiness).

The problem here, however, is that Americans hold their ground when it comes to getting their benefits without paying for them. Which is why Republicans have repeatedly said "Deficits don't matter." Well, if we're accepting that Americans will never tighten their belts and accept fewer handouts from the federal government in exchange for lower taxes, then they're right.

But Americans, properly enrolled by real leadership, can forego quite a lot while the country recovers. Roosevelt was able to bring America together like no one else has to date. And he was a northeast liberal like nobody's business.