One of the things that bankrupted the Soviet Union was spending so much of GDP on the military that there was no money for anything else. Are we headed down that path? I hope no, but I fear yes. Between military and health care something like 41-45% of our budget is accounted for (seems like different estimates exist, so I had a hard time finding hard numbers). Interest on our current debt is still a small percentage of our expenditures, but that will change when interest rates finally rise. Who knows when that will happen, but surely it will eventually. I don't mind us borrowing money right now, because paying 1-2% interest in nothing, but certainly we will need to fix this problem before the situation becomes untenable. Part of me hopes that they don't reach a budget deal this fall/winter and the automatic cuts do kick in. I think it would be really bad in the short term, but it may force compromise in the months ahead. I think one solution to this problem is a constitutional amendment that gives the president one 6 or 7 year term, and congress 4 year terms. This might break the constant cycle of campaigning that tortures all of us and prevents politicians from constantly pandering to the lowest common denominators.
His site is down for some reason. (Was working yesterday.) http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Others/Henry.html http://mosquitocloud.net/henry-c-k-liu-supranational-globali...