Until we have the political courage to take on mandatory spending reforms -- which not many presidents are going to be willing to do -- there will never be change.
President Bush took a stab at reforming Social Security and got stabbed right back by Republicans and Democrats alike. So we continue to waste good money in bad models of delivery.
The number one threat to our economy in the coming century is going to be the huge government entitlement programs that will spin out of control with far greater fury than military spending. Social Security transfers money from twenty- and thirty-year olds and delivers it to the single wealthiest group of Americans: the elderly. Medicare crowds out private insurance and drives up the cost of health care by artificially reducing demand. Don't even ask about the bureaucratic mess both of these programs entail, which also costs significant cash and will only get worse as more people retire. These programs, which Rep. Watts notes are on "auto-pilot" (because entitlements are mandatory, not discretionary, spending), are the real budget busters. We need someone who will stand up against that. And Rep. Watts says we aren't getting it.
Incidentally, Watts decries conservatives who reject McCain, and on the points he brings up, he's right. McCain has certainly been good on spending and life issues. However, the global warming hoax he embraces should be an automatic no-go for serious fiscal conservatives--and the same goes for Huck--since it threatens much more serious and lasting economic damage to the United States.
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