I just see that so much of our federal budget is in "mandatory spending".  S.S., Medicaid, Medicare, Welfare, Military, prob. others I can't think of now.  It seem like only 10 to 20% of the federal budget is optional spending. 

Some one posted a paper on here and I read that only once in history did a government reverse it's fate, when they were in as bad a shape as the US is in.  It was in 1815, I think. The British did it by cutting deeply and taxing more.  I remember that at that time not everybody got to vote.  If you did not own property, no vote.  So the masses prob. suffer the most, but it was accomplished.  Only once in history. 

Sorry, I don't think our political people are up to it.  In only 6 more years our deficit cost will be more than our military cost.  No one has ever reversed things after it got that bad.  And I use 6 years on our current plan.  Wait till the second stimulus, another 1 trillion dollars is announced, maybe better cut that to 2-3 years. 

I better learn to butcher and buy a solar generator. lol.