Right, they are nuisances, hardly worth the hundreds of billions of dollars fighting.

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America is a melting pot, the people at the bottom get burned while all the scum floats to the top.
- - - Charlie King

And you base that thoughts on what?

Whitehouse intelegence? Like Iraq had WMD's?

Yep. But, just like with individuals, the fact someone is willing to collect interest from you for now (because we never pay back any principle in the aggregate) does not mean it's a wise move from the borrower's perspective. Continuing to use debt to fund your life or government always ends the same. And it's never a happy ending.

I never said we were broke. Not once. The fact I can't afford a $2 million house does not make me broke, either. That is your word exclusively, so let's not try and pretend I said it. I said we can't afford $400 billion. And that was all I said. And simple, third grade-level math clearly shows we can't. Hence the term "budget deficit". If we could afford it, the term would be "budget surplus". But, trust me, you will never hear that term with W in office. We can, however, afford the INTEREST on $400 billion (for now). (Well, it's actually $8.8 trillion, but who's counting). Being broke means you have less coming in than the amount you are required to pay out. We have (for now) slightly more coming in than we are required to pay out (which includes only the interest portion of the $8.8 trillion debt). What we are is dangerously in debt. But that's not the same as "broke". But it does lead there eventually, of course. When we actually reach broke you won't need me to point it out.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

The available evidence. Their current actions. Their past actions. The volitility of their governments. Their ideology.

I do not agree that they are phantom threats.

A single nuke, even a small one, would catapault them out of the "nuisance" catagory real quick. But by then it will be too late to do anything about it. That is why we are doing something about it now.

I do not underestimate them the way liberals seem to like to do. They are not children or animals. They are not so stupid that they cant figure it out eventually.

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My Political Blog (Most recent update Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

Do you know how the credit system works? Usually (except when buying a house) they dont care how much money you have. You can have a bank balance of $0.00 and buy a $60,000 car, as long as you make the payment. Creditors look at your credit score, history and your income.

Our history and income potential make us a prime borrower. And Stekim is right we are broke.

http://irm.wharton.upenn.edu/WP-Testimony-Smetters.pdf

Broke as a joke, dawg. If you disagree, show me a link that displays our surplus money in the bank.

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America is a melting pot, the people at the bottom get burned while all the scum floats to the top.
- - - Charlie King

China must be laughing all the way to the Bank. They haven't even fire a shot and are still winning the war.

The fact that you dont believe it is a wise move doesnt mean that we cant pay it back.

Which was my point. You imply that we are broke, but all these people, with lots of money, dont seem to agree with you. It makes me question how accurate your implication is.

I can think of a few endings that are worse. That is why the debt is justified.

Of course not. You just implied it. Which is exactly what I said.

The Creditors dont seem to agree with you. And thwey are willing to bet 400 billion+ on it.

If our economy stays static for the rest of eternity, you will be correct.

Either way, the alternative is worse. Several million lives are not worth financial solvency to me, even assuming you are correct. And I am siding with the creditors on this one.

No. Being broke means you do not have the assets or income to cover what you owe.

If I live in a million dollar mansion, but I cant afford to make my $500 car payment, I'm not really broke. Because I can liquidate my mansion, buy a smaller house, and pay off my car if I really want to. Being broke would mean that I simply could not make my payment or payoff the car.

I am not arguing with you that deficits are not a good thing. I am merely arguing that the consequences are dire enough that the deficits are merrited.

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My Political Blog (Most recent update Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

I never said we were broke! Yes, the balance sheet looks like crap, we are in debt up to our eyeballs and soon enough we will be broke, but right now the U.S. can make the payments when the bill arrives. Sure, the payments are a mere fraction of what we owe (like Citibank's minimum monthly payment of $10), but we CAN make the payment. So we aren't broke. But we aren't rich either.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Thats why we gotta fight smarter, not harder. If we spend the same amount of money we are now on homeland security and border security, they'd be less of a threat. The war on terror is a joke and only increased the amount of worldwide terrorist activity.

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America is a melting pot, the people at the bottom get burned while all the scum floats to the top.
- - - Charlie King

There is nothing to agree with here. We don't have the cash on hand. Simple as that. ("Budget deficit", remember?). That's why we are borrowing the money in the first place! It's very, very simple math. Even Joe American can do it. We spent $400 billion more than we had. Therefore, we ended up $400 billion short. We went to China and Japan to borrow it. Not sure why that's hard to grasp, but OK. It's either there or

Then why don't we? Because we can? Or do we just like adding to it every year? I'm sure that's it.

Well, that's likely because I don't agree we are broke (as I quite clearly stated in plain, crisp, clear English). Another mystery solved here on PF.

We aren't talking fantasy here. Let's snap back to the real world for a bit. No more windmills.

If you use that definition, then we are certainly broke. Because we have neither the assets nor the income to cover $8.8 trillion plus. Luckily, we don't have to pay it back just yet.

Which still fits my definition just fine. I don't care where the inflow comes from. Job, asset sales, stealing, whatever. If more is coming in than going out you are not broke. If your house does not sell, however, you are indeed broke until it does. But more to the point, what is it exactly that the government has worth $8.8 trillion to sell? Nothing. Office furniture isn't going to get you there I'm afraid.

Why can't you have both a surplus and a military? How hard it that? Seems pretty simple to me.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.