…than the Schiavo case.
The Bull Moose has been vocal in expressing the danger from how our deficits are financed. To wit:
…Niall Ferguson indicates that it is in the Chinese interest that the dollar not slide so America can buy their exports. But, the Moose asks what if the rulers of China decide that they can, in effect, hold a threat of economic blackmail to stop American efforts to defend Taiwan?
It is clearly in our national security interests that we not be vulnerable to such a possibility.
…
He again points to the same concern in a later post:
In today’s New York Times, Tom Friedman echoes the Moose’s contention about the Chinese debt threat,
“The excessive tax cuts for the rich, combined with a total lack of discipline on spending by the Bush team and its Republican-run Congress, have helped China become the second-largest holder of U.S. debt, with a little under $200 billion worth. No, I don’t think China will start dumping its T-bills on a whim. But don’t tell me that as China buys up more and more of our debt – and that is the only way we can finance the tax holiday the Bush team wants to make permanent – it won’t limit our room to maneuver with Beijing, should it take aggressive steps toward Taiwan.
“What China might do with all its U.S. T-bills in the event of a clash over Taiwan is a total wild card that we have put in Beijing’s hands.”
This is an example of how Bushie irresponsible fiscal policies provide Democrats an opening to maneuver to the right of the Administration on national security. Another angle, of course, is that the growing deficit makes it more difficult to expand the military.
Neglecting the political jab at the “Bushie irresponsible fiscal policies” we should look at his concern seriously.
What would happen if China decided to sell ALL of the US Treasury Bills they hold at once? Would we not be able to reasonably finance further deficit spending except at exorbitant interest rates?
We like to complain about our taxes, yet when the data is examined, the citizens of the United States are among the most lightly taxed for any first world developed economy.
Is excessive government debt a national security risk, and if yes, should we consider paying more in taxes to maintain our pre-eminence?
Remember the most fundamental rule of the universe: There is no such thing as a free lunch.