Now, I'm not an economist, but this was scary to me....though, I'm not sure I agree with his estimates on the amount the Federal Government allots to the Defense Department.  Still, it's an interesting read.

**Note--he recommends health care reform...That would be a Clinton idea, wouldn't it?

Like many of its citizens, the United States has spent the past few years racking up debt instead of saving for the future. Foreign lenders – primarily the central banks of China, Japan and other big U.S. trading partners – have been eager to lend the government money at low interest rates, making the $8.5 trillion deficit about as painful as a big balance on a zero-percent credit card.

In her part of the fiscal wake-up tour presentation, Rogers explained why that's a bad thing. For one thing, even when rates are low, a bigger deficit means a greater portion of each tax dollar goes to interest payments rather than programs. Because foreigners now hold so much of the federal government's debt, those interest payments increasingly go overseas rather than to U.S. investors.

More serious is the possibility that foreign lenders might lose their enthusiasm for lending money to the United States. Because Treasury bills are sold at auction, that would mean paying higher interest rates in the future. And it wouldn't just be the government's problem. All interest rates would rise, making mortgages, car payments and student loans costlier, too.

A modest rise in interest rates wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, Rogers said. America's consumers have as much of a borrowing problem as their government does, so higher rates could moderate overconsumption and encourage consumer saving. But a big jump in interest rates could cause economic catastrophe. Some economists predict the government would resort to printing money to pay off its debt, a risky strategy that could lead to runaway inflation.

A meltdown is probably preventable, said Anjan Thakor, a professor of finance at Washington University in St. Louis. To keep it at bay, he said, the government is going to have to renegotiate some promises it has made to its citizens, probably by a combination of tax increases and benefit cuts.

But there's no way to avoid what Rogers considers the worst result of racking up a big deficit – the outrage of making our children and grandchildren repay the debts of their elders.