[Blood of Tyrants]

Medicare... accounts for $37 trillion of the $44 trillion debt. Almost all the rest is accounted for by Social Security

The Rats have been squealing like stuck hogs over the $44 trillion number now it turns out that the cause of the debt is their programs.

[Jack Black]

Hey, I resemble that. Medicare is a bipartisan program. Bush wants to add a prescription benefit. That'a major future budget buster, a major increase in the role of governemnt in all our lives and in the economy and another step towards both socialism and Hillarycare.

It appears there is a bipartisan coalition that agrees that anything the congress can pass and get signed is constitutional, the job of the Govt. is to do whatever a majority wants, and FedGov can do a better job of a lot of things than private enterprise and free markets. Oh, yeah they agree that a 50% tax rate on the productive is no big deal.

Those who don't agree are the fringe: Libertarians, Concord Coalitionists, some Perotistas, the RLC, Free Staters and Constitutional Conservatives. And Goldwater-era Repbulicans, who are declining as a percent of the party.

[eno_]

Medicare entitlements are not easy to get rid of, but an entitlement is much easier to get rid of than a bond is to default on. Lumping all this into "debt" is nonsensical.

Plus, look at government assets. The government probably owns 10 trillion worth in land, mineral rights, and facilities, not even counting National Forests.