I can go either way on tax cuts to the rich — either it’s a crooked gift from political cronies — or — it keeps the government’s filthy hands off the money of people who know how to invest and make more money (which is not the government’s business). It took a couple of years, but the deficits are down and inflation is down with Bush’s tax cuts… except.. the Iraqi war is an off-budget item to the tune of about $1 trillion.

But — brace yourself– the real government rip-off is bi-partisan! Much bigger than anything else are the future responsibities of the government for Medicare, prescription drugs, and Social Security. Bush’s prescription drug plan will cost the government 7.9 TRILLION dollars, and it got him Iowa in the 2004 race.

The future obligations of Medicare outweigh the future Medicare taxes by 30 to 70 TRILLION dollars. Where are we going to get that in a $14 trillion economy? We aren’t. As a CPA myself, I tell you that we have to sunset Medicare. “The time for easy solutions is past,” as Greenspan said to Congress during his last week on the job.

Your government drug, old age Medicare and ultimately social security are Ponzi schemes. You’ll never see a dime if you’re young. Both parties built this rickety whore house. Reference — now this is a scary book! — The Coming Generational Storm, Kottikoff and Burns.

I can not say I disagree with you here. I think the Drug Plan is a disaster, but it was written to be a disaster. ANY and ALL manner of ways to curb the cost was stipped from the bill. Leaving a boondogle for drug comps. I feel the same way with Medicare, because our health care system is SO broken, providers use the Medicare system to offset the millions that they have to shell out because uninsured people show up at the ER. That cost is passed on to the gov via Medicare and so on…

All of the issue we have would be fixed, if anyone had the guts to do it.