I agree we need to get to it, but I took a look at the 2010 budget on Wikipedia and it was clear to me that even if the defense budget went to zero, we would only be scratching the surface of the budget deficit. After we cut the defense budget ($663.7) to zero we need to talk about what else can be cut. That's where the argument gets political as lefties and righties have radically different opinions of what is important and what the role of government is in life.
I don't see us balancing the budget until we dig into the sacred cows, Social Security ($695 billion), Medicare ($453 billion), Medicaid ($290 billion) and the real kicker...."Other mandatory programs" ($571 billion). I always wonder about "other", especially when it adds up to $571 billion.
Until we resolve some of those fundamental differences, any substantive discussion on balancing the budget is moot. And I don't see any of our politicians being willing to have that discussion. Perhaps some of the Tea Party folks, but the press and many in this forum have spent a whole lot of time minimizing, ridiculing and trashing the intent of the Tea Party.
We need to revisit the definition of "mandatory" federal spending and have a serious discussion. That will be a political food fight. So I think we will need a real crash before we get serious.
