No but they marched into Afghanistan without a care because they knew Carter would do something like boycott the Olympics.

It lasted over 50 years to the point Carter was in office and another 10 after that. No telling how long this eventuality would have taken and what would happen in the meantime.

Sure and FDR spent money on the military too. But it doesn't mean he wasn't fiscally conservative. What makes him not conservative was everything else. And if we took away his military spending (or LBJ's) we would still have hefty spending.

Just one of them alone amounting to billions of dollars.

Right, replaced defense spending and added bloated social spending and special interest projects to it. And 4% is still in the multi billions.

Sure it does...Clinton was fiscally conservative as was congress. The same congress that gave him the line item veto that allowed him to get that fiscal conservative rating.

__________________
All you need to know about the energy crisis:
ANWR Exploration Republicans: 91% Supported. Democrats: 86% Opposed.
Coal-to-liquid R's: 90% YES. D's: 78% NO.
Oil Shale Exploration R's: 90% YES. D's: 86% NO.
Outer Continental Shelf Exploration R's: 81% YES. D's: 83% NO.
Increased Refinery Capacity R's: 97% YES. D's: 96% NO

SUMMARY: 91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of America’s own oil and gas. 86% of House Democrats have historically voted against.

You just Pwned everybody in this thread. Good job.

__________________
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

It limits the government because it absorbs an ever higher amount of tax revenue to pay the interest on the debt. All deficit and deft spending is like a tax on future earnings. It is completely fiscally irresponsible, and both parties are to blame.

__________________
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/r...ir_expense.htm

We spent $429 BILLION in interest payments alone in 2007.

I think this number shows the cost of what the government could be doing without the debt.

IX:jake:other that the failed* war on drugs, what war was found during reagan's 8 years at the helm?

*unless massive expansion of the prison population is found to be a victory

__________________
“Mayor Palin fails to have a firm grasp of something very simple: the truth.”

[Frontiersman editorial, 2/7/97]

Yeah, dontcha love that crap?

"Oh well, war is expensive".....

As if that were any excuse....

429 billion dollars - that's a great number - here, let me put that in perspective for you: the total cost of direct expenditures in Iraq, since 2003, has been about twice that. 880 billion, give or take.

So.... um..... you know, if I had to sit in the shower and tear up hundred dollar bills, while magically dreaming up some way to make even more money disappear, I couldn't possibly think of a better way, than debt service.

Spending is one half of it. We've seen an enormous 65% and 51% increase in discretionary spending and programmatic spending over the last 6 years of total Republican rule, this when inflation has been relatively low. Contrast that to a 3% and 31% increase respectively during the first 6 years of the Clinton Administration. No comparison.

http://www.cbo.gov/budget/data/historical.pdf

Spending does, however, generate economic growth, at least temporarily, until real spending is decreased. Signficant portions of real GDP growth over the past several years can be traced to spending increases. The resulting growth can increase revenues to some extent, although the effect is temporary until spending is decreased.

The other half of the surplus or deficit equation is revenues. Cutting taxes causes a measurable drop in revenues. Raising taxes does the opposite. Supply-siders contend a portion of revenue losses from a tax cut will be offset from revenues generated from economic gains (politicians go a step further and dishonestly claim tax cuts "pay for themselves"). In practice, this is generally a relatively small fraction at best.

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/54xx/doc5485/2004-07.pdf

Therefore, both tax cuts and spending increase the deficit, increasing the debt and future debt interest, burdening future generations.

__________________
See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction.

- G.W. Bush, 10/3/2003

You're right it isn't an excuse...let's start with the debt created by that war mongering FDR. How much did he spend on the military?

__________________
All you need to know about the energy crisis:
ANWR Exploration Republicans: 91% Supported. Democrats: 86% Opposed.
Coal-to-liquid R's: 90% YES. D's: 78% NO.
Oil Shale Exploration R's: 90% YES. D's: 86% NO.
Outer Continental Shelf Exploration R's: 81% YES. D's: 83% NO.
Increased Refinery Capacity R's: 97% YES. D's: 96% NO

SUMMARY: 91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of America’s own oil and gas. 86% of House Democrats have historically voted against.