Do you know the problem about Government Debt Management?

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Q. In Bankruptcy 1995, Harry E. Figgie warned that the government debt was becoming so large that within a few years, the interest payments would swamp everything else, and it would be impossible to ever pay off the debt, or even afford the interest payments, leading to a devastating default. Although the federal deficit turned into a surplus under Clinton, the deficit has come back larger than ever under Bush ($400 billion), and the national debt is over $6.6 trillion! Thus we are once again faced with the danger of interest payments becoming too high for the government to ever pay off its debt. To avert the danger of government bankruptcy, Figgie argued that we needed to eliminate the deficit and then pay down the debt. To do so, Figgie proposed placing an anti-deficit general in charge of the war against the federal deficit (he suggested Peter Grace, who headed a commission which investigated government waste). This general would recruit a cost-cutting army of 1,000 - 1,500, which would work pro bono (their salaries paid by their civilian employers). The senior commanders would be people with experience at turning failing companies around. The colonels would come from the top management and consulting firms, and also from corporate crisis management task forces (those brought in to manage the cash flow of failing companies for survival). The foot soldiers would be tough cost cutters who know how to search out and destroy red tape and fat. This army would be divided into battalions, each of which would tackle overspending in a particular sector of government. Figgie also proposed an anti-deficit war cabinet (consisting of the President, top Congressional leaders, and the comptroller general) which would set overall strategy and rally political support for the anti-deficit army's recommendations. The war cabinet would take the political heat when resistance to cuts appears, and drive home the message that cost cuts don't necessarily result in a reduction of services. We can reduce costs simply by doing the same jobs more efficiently. Each of the programs subject to cutting would be subject to a cost-benefit analysis, and those that pass would naturally be retained. If people and companies can learn to allocate resources more efficiently, so can governments. And you?give me some opinions...

A. -The only problem with that would be the bondholders. Little old ladies would be turned out on the street. Well-off businessmen might become paupers. Huge financial corporations will first totter and then fall down; if they're resilient enough they might come back again. If not ... The Great Depression II is staring one in the face if the US decides to go that route. Maybe it's better so, for an alternative would be a long, slow slide into corruption a la the Roman Empire, which lasted a thousand years or so but the last few hundred weren't all that pleasant. (Here's a nifty factoid: the average amount of electrical power per person worldwide is about 270 W. The average power per *car* is around 80 kW. The average power per city bus might be around 200 kW. Since many Americans (including myself) commute solo, as opposed to taking the bus...but then, the bus service around here isn't really all that great.) -One thing that has constantly amazed me has been the willingness of Liberals to manufacture the false story of the Clinton budget surpluses and the corresponding willingness of the general public to believe those lies. A surplus means that more money was earned in general revenue taxes than was spent. Ie that there was money left over at the end of the year. So any year that had a surplus would have a net decrease in the National Debt. Below are the actual numbers (to the penny) of the US National debt at the end of each fiscal year. Note that each year saw a continuously rising debt.

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