On 10/20/2013 5:00 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:



Actually, I don't much like the status quo because it has shifted too
far to the right. And, after years of watching the Loonitarian
candidates, there's little chance I'd vote for one of them. They're
basically Republicans with even less sense of social responsibility.

You can't be serious. This country took a turn to port back in the
1960's and the helm hasn't been centered since.

In 1960 less than a third of federal revenues were transferred to
individuals in the form of entitlement programs. By 2010 well over two
thirds of revenues were spent on entitlements to individuals.

The recent antics of the Tea Party fellowship doesn't change that. We
are spending ourselves into bankruptcy (or already have) applying
decreasing sources of revenues to pay for ever increasing payouts for
entitlement programs. It's self defeating and, like Greg mentioned,
when the world says "enough", the **** will really hit the fan.

One thing is for sure. A change in course has to be done gradually.
There's too much inertia in the US economy to allow for sudden changes.
Spending for military and defense programs needs to be reduced over
years with a well thought out plan and objective. To suddenly cut back
will cause more problems than it cures. Same with all other programs.
An honest evaluation needs to be done in terms of their effectiveness
and a plan to curb continued growth that will span several
administrations needs to be applied.

The problem is that politicians get elected by making promises we can't
afford.