Ponder the consequence of US economy in the future

Washington Post,Jan.12,2008 page A16- A letter from Michael Brown of Columbia to the editor: "NO TAXES, NO TOMORROW - Robert Samuelson (op ed,Jan.9) stated that a Congressional Budget Office report projects that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid could easily grow to 70% of the federal budget by 2030 and that the only way to preserve most other government programs would be huge tax increases about 40% from today's levels. According to my amateur calculations, that would take us to a tax level about equal to Germany's and, from what I hear, people there don't worry about health care of having a decent life in old age. The fact is that we live in a country with low taxes, and politicians should let it be known that if we want to keep it this way, we will have to forget about our children's future." My comment: As we are paying high cost of energy and health care,we are already having economic problems right now. Well,let us wait for the State of the Union to learn the panacea that the President will tell us on January 28, 2008. We have learned the wise expression: political necessity of official optimism. Be optimistic and everything is going to be alright. Honey child! Hehehahahoho all the way and we shall live to be centenarians plus to get the benefits in the years to come ad infinitum. Francis Shieh,a lifelong student of economics as an optimistic octogenarian. Jan. 13,2008