"unfortunately, many democrats not only predict, but apparently embrace the sort of dire outcomes which you're posting."

Conservatives need to distinguish between wasteful expenditure, and necessary investment in a country's human resource, in order to keep us safe and competitive. This failure is contributing to a balance of payments deficit which is actually making us less secure as a nation. It's one thing to have a national debt financed by citizens, it is another to have to sell your paper to foreign governments, like the Chinese, and the Dubai moguls. Health and education are way too expensive, the government needs to intercede here to make us competitive, we no longer are. This is the primary cause of wage inflation and expensive goods.

Employers meet these bills because they are forced to pay livable wages. Why do you think we can't do anything about the hot potato issue of immigration? Bluntly: We can't afford to pay our own citizens to do a growing number of jobs. Bosses are being fired for firing illegal immigrants.

How can a business or a country exist and compete without making new investments into the way it handles it's most precious resources, its people and infrastructure? We're falling behind. 46th in longevity, and 21st in infant survival rates. Those figures imply a massive loss of production, and a deficient quality of life.