Balancing the budget: we can't get there from here

Actually, there are not that many ways of doing it without both tax hikes and spending cuts. And at least some of those spending cuts would have to come from the military. If military spending is off the table, then I don't see how it happens. Same is true with entitlements, as far as I can tell.

Here is one Republican commentator's thoughts on our war budget.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not exorbitant drains on the federal budget. Even if the cost of the wars increased 10 times, they are costs the United States must bear, because that is what victory demands.

Victory demands. What kind of victory? How important is it to our national interests? Who cares: send money. Oh yes, spending money on anything else will bankrupt the nation for all time.

Reagan was right: there are simple solutions, just not easy ones.