[campbellcj]

One point we need to keep in mind regarding "non-discretionary" federal spending -- est 54% of total budget this year -- is that the larger the government and military bureaucracy becomes, the larger and faster this number grows. 40 years ago, it was 26% ! Remember that government employee medical and retirement benefits are long-term liabilities on our national balance sheet.

The present value of these liabilities alone is currently $2.9 Trillion!

We are not just talking about welfare or other classical "entitlements", which in reality acount for a tiny portion of where our obscene tax dollars end up.

The real problem is bloat, greed and waste in all levels of government. That makes the "cost" of your stereotypical uneducated, unemployable single mother plus 5 kids on welfare look like pocket change. The true cost of the ridiculous overspending of recent years is far, far greater than the annual defecit figure for any given year....it actually compounds for decades into the future, leaving our kids and grandkids to foot the bill.