Americans Have Deficit Attention Disorder

Recent trends in presidential campaigns have been dispiriting. It seems either the press or the public (I'm not sure which, maybe both) cares more about which candidate would be better to sit down and enjoy a beer with than which would best run the country.

But there are several issues of great importance that are on voters' minds. The top two -- Iraq and health care -- have major implications for the third -- government spending.

Iraq has proven a costly affair, running about $8.5 billion a month, and our government has used deficit spending to pay for it. There is no end in site (you can get up-to-date figures, to the penny, on our debt here).

The demand for health care reform has pushed its way into the headlines and the public eye. American companies can no longer compete with other nations because of skyrocketing costs for care. Most ideas for change include some form of universal health care whether private, public or both. Presently, 47 million Americans lack insurance, and coverage would be costly.

These two issues raise a far more serious question, which needs a serious discussion: How do we pay for all of this when we find ourselves in serious debt already -- much of it to foreign investors?

President George W. Bush was the first president ever to administer a tax cut during a time of war. He didn't stop there, however, increases spending through the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the No Child Left Behind Act and the Medicare Prescription Modernization Act.