Once again the federal budget debate (can it really be called a debate if only one side actually has a say?) seeks to extend tax cuts without cutting spending.

Where are you David Stockman? Voo doo economics continues today with the cynical policies of the ruling Republicans. Content to starve the federal government into submission, the Adminstration and the Congressional Republican leadership care not that future generation will someday have to pay the massive debt they are growing.

And where is the opposition? Democrats remain stuck in the past and offer no positive alternatives. At some point you must engage - and to do so requires challenging existing points of view (say Joseph Lieberman). Monotonously justifying the continued growth to massive existing entitlements just does not cut it. Leadership comes by fighting for the programs that matter and allowing special interest boondoggles to expire or be eliminated.

But, heck maybe I worry too much. President Bush says the Social Security Trust Fund never really existed and there is no need to pay that debt. Maybe he will tell the Chinese the same thing (with a little wink, wink, nod nod of course).