No debt crisis

Just a reminder: There is no debt crisis. Congress could simply decide to raise the debt ceiling, as happened repeatedly under Bush. Polls show that the public would rather see government cut the military and tax the rich than lash out at Social Security and Medicare.

Wait...cut the military? Do we really want that?

This brings us to an interesting point. Liberals believe in Keynesian jobs-creating solutions. Such solutions have not been tried in this case, despite the many who insist otherwise. For decades, the only Keynesianism which the punditry would ever countenance was military Keynesianism. That was Reagan's big trick -- and to be frank, it more or less worked.

I had once predicted that our real rulers would prepare the way for a military Keynesian solution by inundating us with propaganda about the horribly antiquated equipment our soldiers must use. If you lived through the Reagan years, you'll know the kind of ad campaign I'm talking abut: "America still uses biplanes and wooden ships and muskets! Our soldiers wear tri-corner hats! We need to upgrade now!"

When that kind of propaganda didn't flood our airwaves, I began to suspect that maybe this crisis was different. Maybe the powers-that-be don't want the U.S. to come back. Maybe the strict Randroids and the Deutschland ueber alles crowd have won their behind-the-scenes battle with the neo-cons.

We may finally get the military cutbacks liberals have long demanded. But what will those cuts mean for our future? Descensus Averno facilis est, and all that.