I’m tired of hearing that spending cuts can reduce the nation’s debt

I’m tired of Republicans who think they can reduce the deficit and the nation’s indebtedness through spending cuts alone. I believe that the federal government is too big. I believe it has too many employees. I believe its standards and regulations create unnecessary and excessive costs. I believe its programs are ill-designed and thus encourage fraud, waste and abuse. I believe it spends federal dollars on things that are the responsibility of state and local governments. I believe it spends American tax dollars on things that other countries should pay for themselves. I believe that social security payments should be means tested. I believe that Medicare and Medicaid costs should be reduced through greater competition in medical services. I believe that the prescription drug benefit is too generous for both pharmaceutical companies and beneficiaries. I am pretty much open to a lot of ways to reduce federal spending. But, when the money to pay the interest on the federal debt has to be borrowed, which increases the debt; when the country’s population is growing by leaps and bounds from a robust birth rate, lower death rate, and immigration of whatever legality, which requires more government services and thus spending; when our politicians are loath to alienate special constituencies by sharply cutting sacred cows like farm or other business subsidies, which frustrates the idea of reduced government spending; and when many other things can happen or conditions exist that are too many too enumerate or even identify in advance of their occurring, which never-the-less can affect the ability of well-intentioned spending cuts to reduce the annual budget deficit or the national debt, how can anyone with even a smidgen of intelligence maintain that spending cuts alone can solve the federal fiscal problem. We need to ask our conservative congressmen and political powers to get real, Grover Norquist to the contrary not withstanding, and raise taxes. It's time to pay the piper before the piper does his thing.