Deficit reduction

Yesterday I discussed in a somewhat rambling way my thoughts on the current economic situation. One area that is probably the most important is the overall capacity of this country to generate wealth.

We still have tremendous natural resources in this country. However there are currently two drains on the economy. The first of these is the cost of imported oil. I believe it has to be a major national priority to change from oil to renewable resources. There are also potential interim energy sources including natural gas, coal, and nuclear that can get us off oil quicker and stop the drain of resources. While there are pitfalls associated with the use of all three of these, they are no worse than those associated with imported oil and reduce our trade deficit.

The second drain is the cost of foreign adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a strange state of affairs when we need to spend billions of dollars, first to destroy a country's infrastructure and then to rebuild it. We do have some legitimate interests in those areas but so does most of the world and it is time we simply realized that unless it is truly a matter of significant and immediate danger the country simply can't afford to be spending these billions.

The government's sole purpose is to promote the greatest good for the majority of citizens. The amount of good associated with these foreign adventures is difficult to measure, because it is unlikely that any exists. Any benefit gained by the elimination of the Baathists in Iraq is probably more than offset by the increase in Iran's influence. We are propping up the regime in Afghanistan in order to keep the Taliban from regaining power. I realize the Taliban are fundamentalists who have no love for this country and allowed terrorists to operate training camps in the country. However, if the Afghans do not support the current regime enough to prevent their return, I think our engagement is simply costly and ineffective. It is time to rethink that entire strategy and find a more effective way to promote our ideals in the area. An America with a financial and economic crisis, that has come close to leading the world to the brink of economic ruin is hardly going to win many converts to democracy and capitalism. Let's get our own house in order and lead by example. We are starting to look like a colonial power with all the problems and none of the benefits.