Read up, all

Taxes AND Cuts. That's what we need to get America's books in order. That oughta go over well, eh?

I guess what we need is a few generations of elected officials who don't care about re-election. Seriously. People who are willing to come in, do what needs to be done and then just walk away. Don't worry about how things will play when attack ads start or how the campaign donors are going to run for the hills. Just do the dirty work and get out.

I've got no problem with it. Give a dollar figure and split it in half. For every dollar you cut, you raise a dollar in taxes. A lot of people would get hit, both with taxes and service cuts. I'm a liberal, so I'll feel worse for the people who will suffer a loss in services, but I'll go a little cold-hearted on them for a bit. Long-term problems caused by doing nothing would hurt more people more significantly.

My biggest fear for the United States is not that some religion-obsessed or militia nut job is going to blow our shit up. (Though that is in my top five.) My biggest fear is that our economic weakness and exporting of manufacturing is going to lead to a hostile takeover by the Chinese--with the help of some profiteering Americans--that puts us under new management. And we've seen enough examples of how the Chinese treat their people.