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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter O'Brien who wrote (481765)	10/26/2003 4:08:53 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

GDP is an out-dated form of measurement. It doesn't reflect New Economy values.

To: Peter O'Brien who wrote (481765)	10/26/2003 4:18:42 PM
From: MSI	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

You're confused. The military question is different than economic well-being. If we need to spend 50% of the GDP to protect ourselves from space aliens, we'll have to do that. But the question of "economic well-being" related to entitlement expenditures is a non-sequitor. Obviously, excessive and unecessary spending in either military or entitlements is destructive to our economy. Re: entitlement spending - absolutely out of control. The drug cos have just gotten a free $400 billion out of spineless Congress, which doesn't reduce the average cost for drugs to seniors, just keeps it the same, plus cuts off access to Canadian drugs, and adds this drug company welfare cost to our children's generation. As far as other entitlements -- "you might as well consider the US government as basically a giant insurance company, with an army attached", as Krugman says. There are many more trillions in future liabilities than anything else, avoided by Congress and lied about by the adminstration, but which will be stuck to the next generations.