A WARNING WE CAN BELIEVE IN - AT 8:06 A.M. ET:  Yes,it comes up all the time, but we tend to forget it.  The rising debt the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress is inflicting on Americans is unsustainable, and threatens, not only the nation's economy, but national security, as foreign nations increasingly control our economic fate.  From Fortune, which notes that liberal economist Paul Krugman and the conservative Congressman Paul Ryan normally disagree, but on this they agree:

So when the two combatants agree on a fundamental threat to the U.S. economy, Americans should heed this alarm as the real thing. What's worrying both Krugman and Ryan is the rapid increase in the federal debt - not so much the stimulus-driven rise to mountainous levels in the next few years, but the huge structural deficits that, under all projections, keep building the burden far into the future to unsustainable, ruinous heights. "The long-term outlook remains worrying," warned Krugman in his New York Times column. Krugman strongly supports President Obama's spending plans but bemoans the shortfall in taxes to pay for them.

And...

What the Obama administration isn't telling Americans is that the only practical solution is a giant tax increase aimed squarely at the middle class. The alternative, big cuts in spending, aren't part of the President's agenda. To keep the debt from wrecking the economy, the U.S. would need to raise annual federal income taxes an average of $11,000 in 2019 for all families that pay them, an increase of about 55%.

COMMENT:  What we're looking at is potential national trauma, social disruption, and revolt.  Eventually, Americans are going to realize what's been done to them.

Of course, if the economy grows dramatically, the issue may ease, as more taxes, in total dollars, are paid.  But the current administration isn't pursuing high-growth policies, and it will be around for a time.

Of course, another way of getting out of this is through inflation, paying back the debt with cheaper dollars.  But that will destroy the new generation, as inflation always does.  However, I suspect that, out of selfishness and the need to cover up its mistakes, those who influence the economy will see inflation as the solution.  It never is.

June 10, 2009