>And that's the key issue.How do you determine what is essential and what isn't?
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>Defense spending is essential, but being in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya is not. Police and fire protection are essential. Public TV, Public Radio and Planned Parenthood are not. They should be supported by the people who use them. Cowboy poetry festivals are non-essential and should be paid for by the people who attend them and not all of us who do not want to spend money on them. Bailing out banks and auto companies is not essential.

I agree with a lot of that, in particular Afghanistan and Iraq along with more short term interventions in Libya and elsewhere. We've got plenty of troubles of our own. There was just an article the other day in your favorite newspaper <g> saying an increasing number of Republican politicians are turning against the wars after a decade of saber rattling.

What about tax cuts when we're already running a deficit? (Meaning states and municipalities as well as the feds). Are they essential?