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they’re just looking for the fastest biggest bang because THEY backed themselves in the corner.

The below charts are for Fiscal Year 2010.

Anyone with basic quantitative skills can see that if

What You Earn - What You Spend

you are running a deficit.

In Fiscal Year 2010, the Federal government ran a deficit of $3,456,000,000 - $2,162,000,000 = $1,294,000,000 or approximately $1.3 Trillion.

It is mathematically impossible to stop running a deficit unless at least one of the DoD, Medicare/Medicaid, and Social Security experience cuts.

Even if the Federal government were to cut back "Other Mandatory" and "Discretionary" spending categories completely (failure to make interest payments would constitute a default), the U.S. would still run a deficit.

And that's not counting the fact that "Other Mandatory" and "Discretionary" includes such useful things as maintaining the interstate highway system, patrolling the border, guarding our coasts, inspecting food, regulating the financial system, conducting scientific and medical research, maintaining relations with other countries, operating the Federal court system, monitoring the weather, delivering your mail, and so forth.

So take your pick. We can start rolling back our hyper-interventionist empire-building foreign policy or we can cut your benefits.

Or, we can just raise taxes.

The entitlement programs will need to be reformed. The deficits will continue to grow as the population ages. 10,000 baby boomers are retiring a day and will continue to do so for the next 20 years. By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older, twice what it is now.

I want you on my debate team.

Rush claims that the economic ignorance in this country is breath taking. He is dead on. That’s why he brings in guest hosts with strong economic backgrounds on his shows (some are *yawn*) when he is absent.

You can stick the charts six inches from their noses and they still refuse to get it. They still think that cutting benefits to illegals and cutting off foreign aid is all that needs to be done to balance the budget. It’s moronic.

Democrats are always pushing for higher taxes and they are on the losing end of the argument UNLESS and UNTIL they can make higher taxes a stark choice.

“Do you want granny to eat dog food or pop-pop to die because he can’t get his meds - OR do you want to pay a little-eency weency bit more in taxes so granny can eat a healthy diet and pop-pop can afford his meds and they both live happily ever after?”

We (I mean collectively as a nation) want to have it every which way to Sunday. We want lower taxes, but we also want an ever expanding nanny state. For the past 50 years, we’ve had a little of both by mortgaging our future so people are accustomed to it. But we can’t borrow against our mortgage any longer. We’ve hit the wall.

Polls show that people don’t want a debt ceiling raise deal with higher taxes, but 60% don’t want entitlements cut in the deal. We’re a bi-polar nation.

How do you think this plays out?

My thinking is that Republicans will hold the line on taxes and they’ll get a mini deal of some sort on raising the debt ceiling. The whole thing will have to be revisited next year, when we’ll be in worse financial shape and an election is looming, so nothing serious will take place then. It will be pure political posturing. So they’ll kick the can down the road until after the election. Every tie they kick the can, the eventual reckoning becomes more severe.

This time, there will be some cuts to entitlements which will infuriate liberals, but will help Obama with the political middle. Democrats will demagogue the cuts (triangulating themselves from Obama) and may make some gains in 2012.

I think Obama loses in 2012, but possibly Democrats keep the Senate (with the demagoguery) and maybe get the House back.

The Ponzi scheme continues in its death throes and I see us ending up like Iceland or Greece. Sorry to say that and I pray not, but the FSA is too ingrained. It will take generations to change course and it will be painful. Maybe Wisconsin on a nationwide scale and with lethal weapons - I shudder.

Best case scenario is we get a new President in 2012 who has the courage to tell the truth to us, lay out a plan, and lead us through the crisis.

We’re near retirement and will be okay, but like most folks we’re most concerned about our children and grandchildren.

We can start rolling back our hyper-interventionist empire-building foreign policy...

Our hyper-interventionist empire-building foreign policy is the reason I know we're not broke. It's just not possible for a country that's in the supposed financial dire straits some say we are to spend the kind of money every month that we spend on, what is it now, three or four (can't keep count) wars of perepetuity. All is well.