Actually, I'm more anti-tax cut for balanced budget reasons, though I do believe that we need a strong safety net, a just savings and investing environment, a strong defense adequate to all real threats and energy independence.

Our $8 trillion debt is also a national security threat with nations that we do not consider friendly buying up our debt leading to a very real possibility of economic warfare. In the last three years, foreign nations and individuals have bought up 80 percent of the increase in debt to a level of 37 percent of the total debt. China holds about 10 percent of the foreign debt. Those are '03 numbers and the debt hasn't gotten any smaller. I don't consider that a good thing.

Our energy dependence emerged as a national security threat in the early '70s and the situation has degenerated since then with the Iran embassy hostages, playing Iraq off against Iran, Gulf War I, 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq. Fortunately, some of the conservative thinking heads have come to realize, 30 years after the war started, that energy dependence is a national security threat and have decided to start driving hybrids. One thing to remember, Jimmy Carter's "Malaise" speech was not just a commentary on American confidence (which he held to, btw) it was a declaration of war on OPEC and energy dependence. Yet it was derided as weak and pessimistic. Live and learn. Also like Carter, I'm pro-nuclear energy.

So as long as so-called conservatives are going to expose our nation to these threats with bad foreign policy, a worse economic policy, all wrapped up in a pratically treasonous energy policy, then call me a liberal.