Spucatum tauri: Our country is spending itself to death

Normally we tend to avoid matters of pure politics, and more still matters of pure public policy. Today we're going to break that rule.

If you haven't seen it (and judging by the newspaper headlines, you haven't), check out the 2005 Financial Report of the United States Government.

It takes some time to wade through it all, but it's worth the effort. The report is chock full of frightening stuff. If a private company made financial projections like this, their stock would plummet. Alas, the U.S. government needn't worry about such repercussions and accountability, which is the biggest reason why there's a storm gathering on the horizon.

For those tempted to blame the current (and admittedly spendthrift) president and congress for this problem, hold your horses for a second. This is a problem with roots going back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and every presidential administration and congress since then shares the blame for this. For those tempted to blame this decade's tax cuts and the war in Iraq for our nation's financial problems, once again you'd be wise to take pause and actually read the report. Adjustments to the government's balance sheet resulting from tax cuts and the Iraq war are a DROP IN THE BUCKET compared to "entitlement" and social spending (i.e., Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, etc). The numbers clearly show that even if President Bush hadn't cut taxes (a big reason, by the way, why the U.S. economy is doing pretty well now) or invaded Iraq, our fiscal future would still be dreadfully red.

Finally, for those tempted to think that the worst-case-scenario is simply "oh, well, social security and medicare just won't be there when I retire," think again. A likely outcome of this problem is the complete financial collapse of the United States. Think about that for a second. It's not a pretty thought. The bottom line is that our government is making promises to its own citizens it can't keep, and unless things change one day the chickens will come home to roost. It's only a matter of time.

Read through the report. Look at the graphs and charts. Complain to your elected officials. Tell your friends and family. Share this with the media. Burying our heads in the sand isn't going to solve this problem.