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Comment by crusso | Hacker News Reader

I guess if you didn't know or care that entitlements are the largest identifiable chunks of government spending you might feel that way.

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Isn't the largest identifiable chunks of government spending defense?

Entitlements (not in the Constitution) are twice as large as defense (in the Constitution).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY...

The argument "our debt is really high, therefore there is too much spending" is also not a sound argument.

'x is not a sound argument' is not a sound rebuttal.

Do I really have to waste my time explaining that debt accumulates when revenue is less than spending, and so in order to say "the debt is too high, therefore spending is too high", you must first establish that the problem is not low revenue?

Yes, it helps the flow of the thread. At least that way I know what line of thinking you are using. Otherwise, why even post?

The low revenue is a problem too, but raising revenue enough is very hard - since just raising taxes suppresses economic activity and breeds evasion, and making economy produce more by government decree is a secret not yet unlocked.

Well, you could google and look at actual economic data to see that spending as a percentage of GDP is now over 24%, only outstripped by World War II era spending. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1900_2010...

So where does your condescension come from regarding others' knowledge of spending vs taxation?

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