Debt Up to Our ... [Pick Your Fav Anatomy Part]

John Steele Gordon clarifies the Ticking Debt Bomb set to go off in our midst. He states in part:

Moody’s projects that the cost of federal-debt service could reach 22.8 percent of government revenues as soon as 2013.

That would not only threaten our credit rating and drive up still further the cost of borrowing, but also increasingly constrain the ability of the government to pursue American interests. In the 1920s Britain was paying over 40 percent of revenues to service its debt from World War I, gravely limiting its ability to function as a Great Power. In the 1780s France was spending over 80 percent of revenues to pay interest on its debt, no small reason why the 1780s didn’t end well for the French monarchy.

However, he then concludes in puzzlement:

The people seem increasingly aware of this looming threat. Just ask Senator Bob Bennett of Utah, denied nomination to a fourth term yesterday largely because he voted for the TARP bill in 2008. But do the political class and the Washington media?

I would answer: of course they do. The Obami made it very plain during the campaign that they sought a Reaganesque Presidency, in which America would be "fundamentally changed." Conservatives seem to think this meant the Obami wanted an American renewal like Reagan's, with rapid growth and low unemployment, but engineered with Liberal policies and economic restructuring.

For the Administration, however, American economic dynamism is precisely what is wrong with America and the world.

Continue......
 America's economic power feeds the American Beast of Capitalism (bad), Colonialism and Exploitation (worse), and a War-Mongering Militant Culture (evil), which is edging the world ever closer to Nuclear Annihilation. In this context, "fundamental change" should be about bringing a diminution of our economy and our military/political standing in the world, not an increase.

The Ticking Debt Bomb is perfect for accomplishing these ends. Like 1920's Britain and 1780's France, a massive debt would force an American downsizing that could not be reversed by subsequent Administrations of whatever political persuasion. Debt of the magnitude contemplated by the Obami would suck all the resources out of the economy, leaving just a little left over for the basic needs of the people, and nothing for America's global leadership responsibilities.

"Fundamental change," indeed. Reaganesque, in a surreal, bizarro world kind of way.