kresspin, its the law of diminishing returns. Each time the dollar goes to government, a pure cost, it does less in the growth sector. At 4% it can only be used 25 times before it no longer exists. Then the Federal Reserve just prints more unbacked paper and the debt just spirals out of control.
It's not all government employees who are the leeches. The higher-ups, the management are. It has been my experience that the managers tend to spend more time justifying their existence than doing whatever their jobs are--and many of them do not know just what their jobs are. Cut out or farm out at least two levels of federal managers and we'll see some progress.
But, a fair amount of federal contract money to the military is being handed out to foreign governments too in the form of contracts to American firms that in turn hire foreign nationals rather than Americans for the work. Partially this is the military's doing because they have instituted policies that are biased against many American workers, but mostly it's money-making on the part of the contractors. Foreign labor is cheaper and there's no FICA to pay or IRS taxes to withhold--much simpler accounting.
What does the deficit mean to me? That our country is self-destructive and that we all should be looking at those chickens and weaving classes.
Nearly all forms of government have failed from within, not being conquered or overtaken. We may still have an opportunity to save our form of government but it will require us to control more, especially the purse strings.
