Good God, Y'all, What is it Good For? Absolutely Everything

The Yin to our Yang over at Cavalry Charge have been bubbling over about the 4.2% GDP growth in the first quarter. This portends a return to the "glory days of Reagan" in their eyes. (Yes, they really said that).

I'm as eager for the economy to return to the glory days of Clinton (remember the concept of fiscal discipline?) as the next American, and 4.2% growth is nothing to shake a stick at (although it fell far short of the 5% growth that most forecasters predicted for the first quarter). Can't you just see the eager consumers out there bustling through the markets, spending their hard-earned buck on fine American products while the GDP needle steadily rises?

If only that were the case. In fact, .7% of the growth in GDP last quarter was the result of my tax dollars and your tax dollars being funnelled into ... wait for it ... Military Spending! How about that. The war in Iraq really does solve every American problem.

Factoring out military spending, the GDP grew at 3.5%. Any growth is good, of course, but one might feel more comfortable shaking a stick at that kind of number.

So there you have it. You and I pay our taxes. The President declares an elective war in which hundreds of our young Americans are killed. The President uses our tax dollars to pay for the war. The Republicans cheer the resulting economic puff, and credit the President's fine domestic policies. And they do it with a straight face.