A Paragraph to Ponder

From the August 16, 2012 edition of the Financial Times - - a commentary by economist Jeffrey Sachs, The US has already lost the battle over government:

"In fact, Mr. Obama's overall discretionary spending targets are essentially the same as Mr. Ryan's.  Whether Mr. Obama or Mr. Rommary wins, the "non-security" discretionary budget - for education, job skills, infrastructure, science and technology, space, environmental protection, alternative energy and climate change adaption - is on the chopping block.  Mr. Obama's budget would shrink the non-security discretionary programmes from an already insufficient 3.1 per cent of GDP in 2011 to 1.8 per cent in 2020.  That is the "liberal" alternative."