Behold! That’s about 100% of GDP! But things aren’t all dire: yes, we have this debt; and yes, we have built $1.5 Trillion or so of new deficit spending into each budget going forward; and yes, we have anywhere between $60 and $140 Trillion in unfunded liabilities — to be paid with money that doesn’t exist in the world, as of now. Still, in about a week’s time, there’s an
November 16, 2011
November 16, 2011
Congrats, US! You reached that $15 Trillion Debt milestone and you're still going strong!
November 16, 2011
Observations from a fringe extremist Hobbit who lacks the political sophistication of, say, a Bill Kristol
When the Supercommittee fails next week — and it’s meant to, and always has been, I’m convinced — Democrats will get significant and automatic cuts to military spending, no real cuts to entitlements (there will be some cuts that don’t affect patients, which will nevertheless be demagogued as cuts that affect patients), and the President will be able to continue pushing his reelection campaign message: Congress is broken and won’t
November 16, 2011
Oops!
“Another ObamaCare Glitch”: Even if ObamaCare survives Supreme Court scrutiny next spring, its trials will be far from over. That’s because the law has a major glitch that threatens its basic functioning. It’s so problematic, in fact, that the Obama administration is now brazenly trying to rewrite the law without involving Congress. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act offers “premium assistance”—tax credits and subsidies—to households purchasing coverage through new
November 16, 2011
Alan West to media: "Stand up to [Obama] and call him out on the shirking of his duties and responsibilities."
Yeah. Right. I like Alan West (though he disappointed me on several of his votes during the debt-ceiling debates). But if you think Herman Cain is naive, imagine a Republican politician who actually believes that the reason Obama is able to avoid serious criticism is that the press is afraid of him rather than completely ideologically wedded to man. Hell, Obama started his political career in the home of a
November 16, 2011
Instead of a second look at Gingrich, why not a first look at Santorum?
Both Stacy McCain and Tina Korbe raise the question. To which the answer is suprisingly simple: we’ve been told since early on that Santorum isn’t first tier; and consequently, he’s never been treated as more than a foil in debates — often to Ron Paul, sometimes to the newly-minted fiscal conservatives who’d previously backed bailouts — even though his performance on substance has been routinely solid, from a conservative point
November 16, 2011
"Maybe China won't notice, but U.S. Marines and planes will now be based in Australia"
Andrew Malcolm, IBD: Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced today a new military cooperation agreement that will see up to 2,500 U.S. Marines based and training there. There will also be U.S. Air Force units flying in and out and training for six months at a time with Aussie counterparts in the north. Oh, and you might notice U.S. warships making more regular calls at Australian ports, perhaps including some