Easier said than done, Keedy.

Total federal expenditures in 2008 amounted to about $2.55 trillion. Here's a real rough breakdown of where the money went...

• $660 billion in Social security payments
• $790 billion for the Defense Department, Veteran's Affairs and Homeland Security
• $550 billion for interest on the national debt
• $550 billion for everything else the government spends money on

So...taking your sound advice to heart, Keedy, where do we cut? We can't do much about Social Security and that problem will get worse as the baby boomers get older. Stop paying the interest on the national debt? Maybe issue IOU's like California? Substantially lower defense spending? Or cut back on Veteran's Affairs? Would we feel "safe enough" if we took a big cut out of Homeland Security?

Like I said, Keedy...it ain't that easy. Accomplishing the goal of a balanced federal budget would require almost a 100% cut in spending in those areas that are "controllable" (Defense, Veterans, Homeland Security and everything else). Not much we can do about interest on the national debt or Social Security, is there? Bill Clinton was pilloried, mostly by the conservative right, when he cut defense spending and the expenses of what is now Homeland Security. A look at the numbers shows pretty clearly why he chose those areas to cut. It's also pretty easy to see why George W. Bush handled the financing of the Iraq War outside of the normal budget process. To include those costs as we do now is simply too alarming!

And guess what? With the legislation passed recently and that being considered currently (the stimulus, the omnibus spending bill and now healthcare reform), the amount of annual federal deficit will skyrocket dramatically.

I invite everyone here to present a federal budget they'd be comfortable with, including how much more in taxes you'd be willing to pay. Don't skip the tax increase, because I guarantee you our fiscal problem cannot be solved without more revenue! You won't hear those words from any of our feckless members of Congress, but I can say these words with impunity because I'm not running for any office!

P.S. This may be the first time in modern U.S. economic history that getting out of wars has a more favorable impact on our fiscal problems and our economy than getting into them.