Trillion-Dollar Deficits As Far As The Eye Can See...

So we are forewarned by the president-elect! Never mind the unimaginable recklessness and stupidity of spending such vast sums of money; never mind the unseen but undoubtedly chaotic long-term effects this will have on our economy—Mr. Obama thinks this will be good for us.

I don't like debt, and I don't like the already-bloated federal deficit. I avoid debt in my personal life and encourage you (and my representatives in Congress) to do the same. The entire "we must go deeper in debt in order to help the country" argument is wanting. Badly.

Furthermore, the thought that Obama's plans may be inexorably pushed on us by a willing media and a willing Congress is depressing. It seems like his honeymoon may be long...far, far too long.

And then a ray of light shows through the depressing news: This quote from Kent Conrad, Democrat Senator from North Dakota; the quote came in an article discussing the fact that Congressmen are divided on how to respond to the economic news right now:

"Doing things that would have a permanent effect when we face trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see is just unwise."

And he is right. We do not need to be adding more government programs right now. We still have New Deal-era programs hanging around (quick—How many can you name?) from seventy-plus years ago. Have these been needed for the last sixty years? Have they gone away? Will they be leaving us soon?

So if those programs are still with us, will the Obama legacy also be "government programs that will last further than our eyes can see"? Will our grandchildren be able to ask us fifty years from now about these programs—If we can remember their genesis, or predict their demise?

The only remaining ray of hope (found so far) is that, as we saw last fall, congressmen will realize the rage that will inevitably result by a vote for trillions of dollars in new spending and debt. Maybe they will realize that their meal ticket will be jeopardized by such a foolish vote. Maybe. I can hope.