Baldeagle79 comments

Cleo,

The U.S. needs to quit spending more money than we bring in. Taxing people does not actually bring in more money in the long run. Historically, revenues increase when tax rates decrease. There is an inverse proportionality to this that liberals don't seem to buy. If companies have more money to spend, then they invest more in production, and keep people employed. They conduct more B2B operations (more revenues for the gov't too), and their employees buy more stuff (because they're employed...more revenues). The 2001 and 2003 U.S. tax cuts showed a definite positive relationship with respect to our federal revenues. Now, I believe that tax cuts are only half of the issue. Reductions in spending are also a vital part of the problem. The U.S. can eliminate the deficit with the stroke of a pen, but refuses to do so (Pelosi and Reid aren't big on spending cuts...neither is Obama). Our new fiscal reality is that we can no longer afford to put capital gains taxes and corporate taxes at a rate that is 3 times that of other industrialized nations (U.S. is 35%, Ireland is 11%...where do you think companies would prefer to go?).

With respect to the war: We faced a new national reality after 9/11, but the fact that the U.S. has long since been the target of terrorist regimes is nothing new. After we assisted the Mujahadeen to free Afghanistan from the Soviets, they turned on us because we didn't stick around. Afghanistan was ground zero for operations against the U.S., but we let them slip off of our radar after 1979-1980. After 9/11 we amplified our radar, and any nation that even looked at us funny was going to be in for some serious trouble. Saddam Hussein threatened the destruction of Israel, had bombed almost all of his neighboring countries (Israel, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, to name a few), and he wanted us to believe he had WMD. Sorry, but that was a dumb idea in a post 9/11 world. You would also do well to learn a little more about international political economy. The U.S. is not broke because of the Iraq war. In fact, we're spending per capita much less than in any serious conflict prior (WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korea...).

America is always a good investment. The Japanese economy will soon pick up, as well. The world is experiencing a paradigm shift away from the industrial age to the information age. Technology and knowledge workers will be the lifeblood of this new global economy. To give historical precedent, here in the United States in the year 1900 about 50% of Americans were farmers. By 2000 only 1.2% of Americans farmed, yet we produced more food per capita, with a population the exponentially exploded during the 20th Century. Our economy shifted then to an industrial one, and we enjoyed great prosperity. Japan had a similar increase in its economic power during the last century, as well. The American perspective says that the only nation that can even rival our own for technological advancement is Japan. If we didn't come up with it, we look to Japan, who probably did. Since we are great allies, and we have a mutual respect for each other, we have nothing to fear.