America’s future at risk

Kansas City Star: As a presidential candidate eight years ago, George W. Bush essentially argued that the government should not even try to pay off its debt. He characterized that as somehow cheating taxpayers.

In the White House, Bush pushed hard for tax cuts that favored the wealthy and — just as this newspaper and many other observers warned — pushed the country deeper and deeper into debt.

Bush kept promising that the deficits would be small and short-lived.

Well, the game is finally up.

As the White House recently admitted, the deficit for the current fiscal year is predicted to hit $389 billion this year — more than double last year’s figure. And next year will be far worse.

Half trillion debt

Bush’s successor will inherit a predicted 2009 deficit approaching half a trillion dollars, a stunning and unprecedented figure. And that will be piled on top of the $9.6 trillion debt that the country already owes — not to mention other government liabilities for important programs like Medicare and Social Security.

Members of Congress in both parties share some of the blame. They have been too quick to go along with Bush in spending money the government didn’t have. They also allowed many individuals and corporations to escape taxes entirely.