Health care ?

Republicans always want to cut our social programs, because they have no empathy for the average American.

For a country that likes to tout itself as a "Christian nation" we sure don't care much about what happens to other Americans.I guess too many of these so-called Christians have let their own greed and avarice get between themselves and what they were taught.

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).

Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

We also spent more on the military in 2009 ($663,255,000,000.00) than the next 17 highest ranked combined.

We spent more than China,United Kingdom,France,Russia,Germany,Japan,Saudi Arabia,Italy,India,South Korea,Brazil,Canada,Australia,Spain,Turkey,Israel and Greece all added together.

We've got to change our thinking.....radically and now.

Nice article.

What do you do with a huge standing military, well you start a phony war. I often wonder how far just 1 billion dollars, of the many billions of dollars, lost, wasted, and misplaced would go in helping education in this country. But of course the more educated and sophisticated your constituents become, the likely they are to be your constituents?!

We should demand the same health care they give them selves and an end to our foreign welfare programs and take care of our own first.

I agree and nothing less...

Thanks for the links, Becks.

Has there been a war the US has fought where we didn't end up with a handful of bases to extend the empire? It was one of the things that broke the back of Rome. You'd think our own empiricists would have considered the cost of maintaining a military as extensive as this. Now we've got a couple of more countries to add to the list--and we're always looking for more.

A lot of interesting points here. I completely agree that a significant portion of the money being given to other countries for various reasons needs to be greatly reduced.Not only reduction in cost but some serious oversight into personnel and material assets being provided to prop up governments that can't survive on their own.

I do believe that Americans are a charitable people by nature. That does not mean that the world should treat us as their major source of charity every-time there is a disaster. Charity should begin at home.

I am both thinking and hoping that you all are being just a little to quick to pass judgement on the actions and intent of these upstart freshmen in congress. The budget fight that we just went through is really last year's story. The bulk of the monies for the 2011 budget have already been paid out. That money is gone, lost, I'm sure a great deal of it has been wasted. The real fight is just about to begin. Especially considering the issue of raising the debt ceiling.

Not everyone referred to as a Tea Partier is a complete wacko, though they do seem to have more than their fair share.LOL!! I dislike the idea of any of our social programs being cut at all, feels like a step backward. I will concede that it may well take a couple of steps backwards to get back on course, but before any reductions are made in social aide at home, they are going to have to impress me with the amount of military and other foreign aid they are going to reduce and bring that money back home where it can do Americans the most good. How many bases are they willing to admit have become redundant due to technology and close down.

Certain aspects of our government need to suffer the pains of restructuring more so than others.

The very insistence on keeping campaign promises can work to everybody's benefit, how strictly they adhere is the key. Consider that anybody who can bend Boehner over a barrel and keep him there can't be all bad.