This excerpt originally appeared in The Buffalo News on April 16, 2012.

There are no moderate cuts that will balance the budget. If the government shut down all of NASA plus the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy, the budget still wouldn’t balance. Don’t look for waste among the litany of agencies and departments, either. The government collects enough revenue to pay for Social Security, Medicare and the interest on the debt. That’s all. Politicians waste our time when they debate whether we can afford this program or that program. We can’t afford any program.