had too much wine to think up a title for this post

Bill has it right: "The problem lies in the starting premise – the blind pursuit of the budget surplus. All the rest of the nonsense follows from that ill-conceived goal."

I think people don't really care about the federal budget. I think people want things to be better again, like things used to be. I think people have been convinced that cutting government spending will get us there.

It won't.

I think people think that if we cut government spending then we can cut taxes, and if it doesn't make things better at least it gives us lower taxes. It doesn't. What it gives us is the Fall of Rome.