Within a decade, the United States will be spending more of the federal budget on its interest payments than on its military-and thatÂ’s not because the Pentagon is such a great bargain.
In 2009, the US spent about $665 billion on its military, the Chinese about $99 billion. If Beijing continues to buy American debt at the rate it has in recent times, then within a few years US interest payments on that debt will be covering the entire cost of the Chinese military.
By 2015, the PeopleÂ’s Liberation Army, which is the largest employer on the planet, will be entirely funded by US taxpayers. When the Commies take Taiwan, suburban families in Connecticut and small businesses in Idaho will have paid for it.
The existential questions for America loom not decades hence but right now. We face not genteel Euro-style decline cushioned by America, but something faster, wrenching and far more convulsive - with nobody to cushion it.
In America, one party is openly committed to driving the nation off the cliff, and the other party is full of guys content to go along for the ride as long as we shift down to third gear. ThatÂ’s no longer enough of a choice. If your candidate isnÂ’t committed to fewer government agencies with fewer employees on lower rates of pay, heÂ’s part of the problem. This is the last chance for the GOP to restore its credentials. If it blows it, all bets are off for 2012. |