... control their own spending. Right now the foreign investors have faith that our fiscal management will turn things around, however if they lose that faith then financing future deficits will be almost impossible. The prior presidencies of George Bush senior and Bill Clinton helped to create those deficit surpluses in the late 90's. A Budget Enforcement Act was passed during this time which tightened discretionary spending by forcing budget cuts in one entitlement in order to increase others. This helped drop government outlays to 4% of the GDP in 1992. We are in a different situation today. In the wake of 9/11, defense spending has increased because of the war in Iraq. Also, Homeland security, rising health-care costs, and shifting demographics in Social Security have caused the government spending to grow at alarming rates. Steps that were taken by the Bush administration did not help either. The steep tax ...

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