I don't have time for the full review, but I want to address Phil's concern (in the comments) on whether Kerry or Bush is the spender. Since people will think my sources biased, let me take this from the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Here's a chart from a report lamenting the loss of income tax reviews.


Liberals look at this chart and weep; conservatives rejoice. As I pointed out a few days ago, the only way for liberals to stop spending your tax dollars is to not give it to them.

Interested readers should turn to CBO for more information.

Here's a second graph, in which we can see what has happened to spending. The amount of discretionary spending in the '04 budget is only 39% of the total, down from 45% twenty years ago. Clearly the major culprit in this is Medicare/Medicaid, as you can see below. (Click the graph for the rest of this GAO report.)



While I'm writing this I got David's latest emailed updatewhich quotes Churchill, "We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." The deficit is the result of choices put in place before Bush arrived, the force of demographics and promises for Medicare/Medicaid.

It's also the result of a decision to give money back to people.

One party wants to get that money back.