We're in debt? Worry not, we'll spend more money and improve the economy!

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama gave the traditional State of the Union Address (transcript found here). In it, he talked about a great many things, not the least of which was the tremendous budget deficit the government currently has. He proposed freezing annual domestic spending for the next five years, which would result in a total save of roughly 400 billion dollars over the next decade, or about 40 billion per year. I'd say that's fantastic, but then I remember that the government spends roughly 3,500 billion per year. So while I'm not saying it's a bad plan, it's nowhere as good as Obama made it sound, when he said that this will bring "discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president." Sure, that sounds lovely, and all that, but it's mostly irrelevant to the fact that the US is still spending about 1 trillion more money than it brings in every year.

Then he mentioned freezing some paychecks for a couple of years of government employees, as well as several tens of billions of dollars from the military budget. Which, while not a bad thing, is simply not enough. Then he talked about the past and how the government had increased spending manyfold to compete with the Soviets during the Space Race, and how doing so had "unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of jobs." Perhaps it had improved the economy, but it had also left the problem of national debt unaddressed. What use is it to build your wooden floor and walls when the very foundation you built it upon is crumbling? Attempting to increase government spending by investing in "biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology - an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people." What Obama plans to do is to spend even more money in an attempt to one-up the rest of the world. I believe such a plan is folly. Even the new jobs would be pointless, since their paychecks would just be added to the national budget. The American economy can survive a 9% unemployment rate for a little bit longer. I do not believe the American country will be able to survive the increasing mountain of debt that's building up and being ignored. Increasing the number of government positions and government contracts can only cause more harm in the long run.