Very interesting article IMO. Here is an excerpt :
Our budget stalemate lies precisely in the "value judgments" that the Brookings study avoids. The present political consensus is crumbling. For decades higher benefits for the elderly were effectively paid for by reducing defense spending -- not by raising taxes or cutting other programs. In 1960, defense was 52 percent of the budget; in 2005, it's 19 percent. After Sept. 11, 2001, military spending won't shrink much more, but even if it disappeared, the savings wouldn't cover future spending on the elderly. The same, incidentally, is true of President Bush's tax cuts; even if they were eliminated, the resulting tax increases would only curb today's deficits -- not pay for tomorrow's spending.
We need a new public consensus to reflect new realities. Because all choices are hard, they require a larger moral and social framework that makes them legitimate.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn..._opinion/opeds




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