Hi Lindy. (I'm Mary Anne's son if you're wondering about he IP address.)

First, I agree about being in the red on the fed. budget. There isn't much of a good reason for it. I think I understand *why* W pushed for a tax cut. I don't agree with his vision of the future, but I understand the thinking behind it.

Reagan built up a huge national debt but didn't much worry about it. It turned out not to be a problem, because of our economy's explosive growth through the '80s and '90s. It wasn't so much the number - the thing that matters is debt as a percentage of GDP.

Bush thinks he can cut taxes and stimulate the economy - or as he puts it "make the pie higher." Bush isn't very good at speaking, but you can see what he means. I think it's foolish to count on perpetual growth. Extremely foolish.

Of course, taxes are only half the problem. The other part of the problem is out of control spending, and the democrats in congress deserve a large share of blame for that, too.

"OSS + SS = CIA"

That's really reaching man. The CIA is not in the business of running the likes of Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz. CIA doesn't have its own infantry divisions. About half the CIA are analysts sitting at desks in Langley, about half are in embassies around the world. In fact, most CIA employees have degrees from liberal arts programs, and the CIA is still filled with Clinton appointees, Tenet among them. The CIA is more like the State Dept. in outlook and attitudes, which is part of the reason why they're often at loggerheads with the DIA.

(I'll break here because I want to break this post into digestible parts.)