The "BASE" like their leaders haven't balanced their check books all their life. Their view of macro economics is silly. Any one who think, cutting expenses will ultimately balance budget is hallucinating, no business or government have ever achieved it. On the other hand, many businesses has gone out of business by cutting expenses and by not investing in the business. From country's point of view, it translates into investments in infrastructure, education, law and order, and social services which are all necessary for the society to exist civilized. When sufficient investments are not made, society eventually collapses and the country along with it. America had a good run since WW II, after the war and after sixty some odd years, other countries are getting back on their feet, and we the champions of "free market economy for decades have to compete.

Many feel we don't need to and blame China but the reality is, if it is not China then, it will be someone else. Another reality is we cannot sustain our standard of living by producing products made in China, they are all low value products, we should concentrate on high value products, to do that we require a different type of work force, not the one's following their dads to the same factory.

Cutting expenses may reduce deficits in the short term but the deficits it will leave in the long term is going to take very long term to overcome and may knock us off. Many may believe our super power status comes from military technology and weapons, that type of technology doesn't get created by an ill prepared workforce, and its contribution to the overall superpower status is less than 1/3 compared to our Economic Might and the Economic Might is what makes us the super power, we are today.