Apparently one of the items in the State of the Union address will mention keeping the growth of Federal Spending next year at 4 percent (higher than the rate of inflation.) Watch all the Democrats who have been talking about nothing but the deficit and how we need to keep the taxes up, start screaming like someone was cutting their heads off with a rusty handsaw. Any rate of growth less than 8 percent a year in government spending is treated by the Democrats as a major disaster, and usually referred to as a "cut" in spending. The media picks up the terminology immediately, and "spending cuts" become the rule of the day. Visions of armies of starving old people will be raised. Destruction of our American way of life! Typhoons! Hurricanes! Earthquakes!! SMOG!!!!!!*

We will see the old rule once again: the American citizen can always figure out a way to get by with less money when higher taxes are imposed, but government can never get by on less revenue.

*Bonus points for identifying this reference