Bake Sales

It'll be a great day when education gets all the money it wants and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy bombers.
~ Message on a bumper sticker I used to have on my truck ~

For the past 6 months or so, the American people have been told that the country is broke. Republicans have said this. President Obama has said this and many of his Democratic colleagues agree. We've been told it is a time of tough choices and numerous painful cuts to the federal budget. We've heard the words "shared sacrifice" and "austerity" over and over again.

Yes, the budget deficit is THE issue of concern for everybody in the Washington beltway and each side has tried to see who can cut more than the other. On and on and on it goes...until Libya. All of a sudden, this burgeoning deficit that threatens to bankrupt the country isn't all that important anymore. Few in the Washington establishment seem the least bit concerned that we're expending hundreds of millions of dollars to bomb the hell out of Libya.

Our elected leaders are hoping that average folk don't notice this rampant contradiction and, I hate to say it, but I'm fairly confident it will fly right over most people's heads. One would think that the deficit hawks in the Tea Party would be screaming their fool heads off right now, but very few beeps have made it past their lips.

This situation offers yet another illustration that, when it comes to military escapades, deficit hawks turn into sparrows. No matter the situation, there is ALWAYS sufficient resources to fund war and destruction.

You can be assured that, once our leaders turn their attention from the war to domestic matters, the deficit hawks magically will regain their voices and they will scream even louder about "shared sacrifice" and "austerity".