At least half the people in this country drive me over sanity's cliff. Few people seem to realize all the things that are needed by what the federal government does. The conservative drumbeat to cut the size of the federal government benefits only the wealthy because they don't need public services nearly as much as the common person. Controlling outbreaks of disease, protecting the food supply, tracking dangerous storms, maintaining and building infrastructure, and helping state governments are only a few of the necessary things that our federal government is doing for us every day. These things cost money, and the costs of everything keeps going up, so it is only logical that the costs of government have to keep going up with inflation; yet, conservatives have many Americans believing that we should cut taxes and spending -- a double whammy when it comes to providing the myriad things needed by the people. Do people realize how much their state and local taxes would have to go up if the federal government stopped helping with the costs of education, and that's just one thing; this is what Libertarians fail to mention to people when they talk about "freeing us" from the federal government. Imagine if state and local governments had to pay for all the things mentioned above along with Social Security, Medicare, and all the other things provided by the federal government and the people as a nation. Since the costs of what is needed to run a great country only keep rising along with everything else, then we need more revenue as time passes, not less. Unless we are going to create a whole new economic system that is not based on consumption and ever-increasing profits, this is a reality we all have to face.
The Bush tax cuts were never paid for and were put in place to necessitate the cutting of the social programs that the wealthy have hated ever since FDR. If we don't end ALL the Bush tax-cuts, deficit spending will only continue to rise. While Social Security is doing fine right now, it will not pay all the needed costs in the future with the graying of America, and we will never be able to control health costs as long as corporations control health care. In any event, as Tom has said, we need more revenue, not less, and we as a people have to pay for what we want.
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