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in response to Fossil:

ajm: You see, I'm right. Conservatives believe the nation as been stagnent since Ronald Reagan. When they hear "growth", they think in the economic terms or as it relates to size of government. The nation has grown in population and in many other ways. We have more seniors today, more live births, more poverty, and yes, our economy has also expanded during the last thirty years. We also have more millionairs then we have ever had in our history. We have more disabled veterans since the Civil War. We have obligations to support troops fighthing in two theaters. And yes, our debt has increased and the Republicans do not want to pay it, even though they are responsible for it. For those who have not lived very long,that means the government has more responsiblity too. Of course the government has grown. We have a lot more problems today then we did when Ronald Reagan was President. Everything grows in proportion to the needs of the enviornment in which it exists. Including responsiblity. The only thing that has not grown is our revenues. That is one of the reasons we are in trouble. The other is that WE the people continue to elect representatives that enact expensive priorities that WE the electorate demand of them. The big lie that Republicans advanced after the Reagan administration was that if you reduced taxes you would increase revenue. Well, guess what? Not one Reagan economic advisor can be found today to say that theory is true. NO lasting net increase in revenue has ever occurred when you reduce taxes. This is a lie. Common sence tells you that you must increase your income if you increase your living expenses. We, as a nation have not done that. Our children will do just fine if they figure this out. Fear is a tactic of the Conservative right uses to scare the beegees out of you. If you don't beleive me, just listen to the candidates they have running for office. They start out with a doomsday speech and tell you that if you don't throw the "liberals" out, you and your childen will surely parish. They never bother telling you the "how" to their solutions. They speak in generalities and when pressed against the wall, their numbers never add up. This has been true in every Republican adiministration since Ike. Who was the last true fiscal conservative. A Repubican that taxed the wealthy and brought you our national highway system. Oh, did I mention he was a national war hero too. No communist, no socialist just a good American who cared more about his country then he did the blah, blah his party was spouting. You can look long and hard for a Republican Administration that has ever givin us a "balanced budget". So I dread the day that one comes to office and has to operate under such an Amendment. Historically, we know that a Democratic administration has succeeded in having a balanced budget, the Clinton administration.