Another Hole

For readers of this blog, this should not be much of a surprise. Political Wire:

"As Congress and the White House struggle to trim up to $50 billion from the federal budget over five years -- just 3% of the $1.6 trillion in deficits projected for that period -- budget experts say the nation soon could face its worst fiscal crisis since at least 1983, when Social Security bordered on bankruptcy," USA Today reports.

"Without major spending cuts, tax increases or both, the national debt will grow more than $3 trillion through 2010, to $11.2 trillion -- nearly $38,000 for every man, woman and child. The interest alone would cost $561 billion in 2010, the same as the Pentagon."

On top of that is the beginning of the baby bommer retirement wave. Says Comptroller General David Walker: "We face a demographic tsunami that will never recede."

I really think this is a part of an ongoing GOP strategy. I don't mean just taking advantage of happenstance. I mean that the leadership sat down and planned this as strategy. In a nutshell, run up huge deficits and force the Democrats to make cuts. It's a no lose strategy.

Republicans understand political ebb and flow, and fully understand the likelihood of cyclically losing the Presidency. By using their time in office to run up deficits (and btw, reward their base with tax cuts), they put Democratic leaders into a position of having to either cut entitlements with the effect of pissing off the Democratic base, or cut defense and reinforcing the Democratic image as soft on defense.

It has worked so far. Wonder how Dems will counter?