perfidy

It strikes me that Bush's Administration has done a magnificently bad job of managing government spending. Republicans can crow all they like about tax rates and so forth; yes, there are a few Americans who are paying significantly less federal tax under this President. Most people's tax burdens are pretty much unchanged. What has changed, dramatically, are the outlays.

Bush's war of choice in Iraq is costing every American taxpayer thousands of dollars, personally. That's right, boys and girls -- what does your chunk of $200 Billion come out to? With around 130 million taxpayers, that adds up to over $1500 each. So while Bush giveth a $300 tax cut to the common man (under duress -- Bush didn't want the $300 credit; he wanted a tax cut for the wealthy), he taketh $1500 for this stupid war. That's what you're going to be paying.

The winner of MoveOn's video contest shows children working in factories to pay off the deficit. It's dead on. Interest payments on the debt currently run around $175 Billion per year. That's going to escalate dramatically over the next ten years. While all this debt is accruing, interest rates are going to begin to rise, making that debt dramatically more expensive to service.

Compound interest is a wonderful thing if you're an investor. If you're a debtor, it really, really sucks.