[MD] Dynamic Development at all costs?

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Platt]
Check the red line in the Debt as a Fraction of GDP chart.

[Arlo]
The "red line" debt is somewhat lesser than the black line debt, as 
explained by the site.

"US Debt from 1940 on. Red lines indicate the public debt and black 
lines indicate the gross debt, the difference being that the gross 
debt excludes funds held by the government (i.e. the Trust for Social 
Security)"

So I suppose if you exclude funds held by the government, the numbers 
are a bit lower, but I'm not sure what the point of that is? Why 
aren't you factoring in SS?

In either event, the page you provide also says this, "The total debt 
is currently 66.5% of GNP." If that ratio is supposed to mean 
anything, when should I become worried?

I think its also important to enumerate this by president, as in a 
graph Krimel points to. 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms)

You can see that for all presidents, beginning with Roosevelt and 
Truman, the ratio between debt and GDP goes down (the only exception 
is a practically irrelevant +.1% under Nixon/Ford). However, this 
downward trend ends with Raygun who increases the ratio +11.3% in his 
first term and +9.2% in his second. Pappy Bush's single term saw a 
+13.1% jump. Both of Clinton's terms see a reduction, -.6% and -8.2%. 
Then Bush Jr goes back to increases with +6.9% and a projected +3.9%.

If I should be concerned with this ratio, as you suggest, it is not 
the republican presidents who have done good.

[Platt]
I am not of the "better red than dead" school, or the current 
situation, "better Muslim than decapitated."

[Arlo]
Well, it didn't take long for this to revert to talk-radio rhetoric.

[Platt]
That the debt to GDP ratio is better going down than up I grant, but 
not at the expense of losing liberty.

[Arlo]
So the ratio can go up so long as its due to republicans telling us 
they are protecting us from some evil boogeyman somewhere. Then its 
okay. But when its democrats... wait... its never gone up under a 
democrat. Oh well...