All we have to do is stop paying out 250 billion dollars a year overseas to fund that "bullshit that we do to other countries" and we'd have a pretty good chunk of yearly payments taken care of right there. Last poll I saw, the American people don't support messing around with other countries, it is our government which does that all on its own, even after we've voted for them on their promise not to. There is a lot more going on here than that too, like the fact that many of our government agencies are utter wastes of taxpayer money. Take the FTC for example: Do they regulate trade? No. Did they do anything to even bother talking to the oil companies when they were raping us at the pump? No. Those are costly services we can do without. Add them up and we can pay off this stupid debt pretty quick AND make people happier at the same time.

So you're right that we can't afford this debt in the long-run, but I disagree that raising taxes is the *only* solution. Cutting idiotic government spending is equally possible, although it is politically impossible to imagine that happening with this current batch of scum (right and left). We desperately need political change here in the US, not more taxes.

We're still paying off debt we incurred during WWII. I doubt this new debt is anything less than net 60 years either. That's one of the unfortunate side-effects of this spending -- it's going to affect not only my children, but probably my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and maybe even great-great-grandchildren. Our politicians rely on building the tax base by future population growth, not paying off bills due in any particular rush, as you seem to be suggesting.

No, it really is the politicians' fault. They flat-out lied to us (over and over). Bush literally told us that it would be wrong for any country to invade another country without just cause, a clear goal, yada yada... The Republican party said they wanted to lower taxes and make government smaller and do less spending. All they did was largely lower taxes on the rich (because they thought that would make things better, which it clearly did not) and then did the exact opposite of what they said they'd do with everything else, which in my view qualifies as pure lies. That doesn't exactly put the blame on the voters in my opinion. So yes, fingers are being pointed at the politicians because they are nearly all liars, crooks and criminals of the highest order.

I don't know how it is in Canada, but our tax system here in the US is unjust, and insanely complex. We don't mind paying taxes because we all know the roads need to be paid for by someone, but our government taxes us for roads, and then later changes their mind and spends it on wars and making new government agencies to bully its citizens with, which is not what we voted for in the first place. Then they confiscate our wealth with deficit spending, which is even worse than taxes. Now our income is worth less because the cost of goods is more. Then they need more money (because they made it less valuable, remember) and tax us from any new angle they can find, which even further increases the damage they did by printing more money in the first place. It's a vicious, and stupid cycle which has absolutely nothing to do with our "nuttiness" about paying taxes.

I appreciate your intent to be honest about the fact that the Constitution says what it says, but... The right to bear arms isn't about "protesting" anything; it is about protecting against government tyranny over a disarmed citizenry. This is about maintaining a balance of *power* between the government and the people, not a balance of *authority* as so many gun-control advocates seem to think.

I am skeptical that India's social situation is comparable to ours to the extent that, "Since they don't need guns, neither do we!"

THIS is the real reason why I replied to you. I could not possibly agree more with your last paragraph. The right to individual privacy in the US has taken a back seat in nearly every major political discussion which has taken place since 9/11 and even before then. Until we can, as a society, value privacy more than the theatrical security ruse our government has been propagandizing, we will never be free -- guns or no guns.