Just a couple of days ago, I wrote about John Maynard Keynes' premise that deficit spending equates to capitalist investment when determining national productivity. This today comes in the Wall Street Journal: When the government spends more than its revenue, there is a budget deficit. These deficits are paid for by Washington selling interest bearing Treasury securities. If the government were ever to default on its promise to pay periodic interest payments or to repay the debt at maturity, the United States economy would plunge into a level of chaos that would make the Lehman bankruptcy look like a nonevent.It is the interest on the national debt that makes our future unstable. The exploding size of that burden suggests that, short of devaluing the dollar and taking a large bite out of the middle class through inflation and taxation, there is no way to ever pay down that bill. The tagline for the article is "In 2009 about 40% of income taxes will go towards debt interest payments."2 out of every 5 dollars that you pay in taxes will not go toward any kind of productivity at all. It will go toward paying our debtors. Those aren't productive dollars. That's wasted money, spent at the pleasure of politicians who give your money to people they favor. And by the way - they're not giving it to the voters; they're giving it to their cronies. Liberals could well be good at math, but they refuse to do the math and they refuse to connect the dots. That makes them dangerous for their concerted ignorance. Journalists, who once chased politicians with skepticism and considered it a triumph to skewer the conniving politico, now play stenographer and participate in cool kids' gossip games and shun actual reporting. The cost of increased debt can only be portrayed as productive by those engaged in wishful thinking. In truth, the liberal agenda is a sure recipe for American decline. Bush pursued liberal policies when it came to spending. Obama exponentially pursues liberal policies when it comes to spending. By the time this debt is passed to our kids, the interest will be maybe 4 out of 5 tax dollars, where only one-fifth of taxes collected can go to infrastructure. What greater immorality is there than to damage the future of our children before they even get to it? Loving parents don't vote for politicians who drive up debt. Compassionate people don't encourage government programs. Only ignorance or malice would drive such actions. Anyone who believes Keynes needs to be acquainted with our interest on debt and be forced to reconcile Keynes' theory and the fact of 40% of our tax money going to non-American interests. Then ignorance won't be their excuse for continued support of a policy of deficit spending. |