re: America's greatest enemy is debt--

While you are correct our debt has little to do with trade, the market demand for our debt is influenced by debt. When dollars leave the country they eventually find their way back or are held by foreign central banks. What countries often do that have large trade deficits with the USA---meaning they sell a lot more stuff to us than we do to them is buy our debt. The demand for our debt keeps prices high meaning the yields are lower and our interest cost less.

Countries that do buy more from us than we sell to them are not US debt buyers of consequence unless they have some other motivation to hold US debt instruments.

So in regards to trade--deficits do make our debt more in demand.

Our debt is a spending issue and not a tax issue. The rich pay virtually all the tax.

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I do agree with you that without the backing of gold and silver, the dollar is more vulnerable.

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While I understand the gold standard and it's virtues I am not an avid gold standard guy.

We could accomplish the same thing as having gold back currency by having an enforceable balanced budget amendment. This would limit the growth of the supply of dollars making the dollar more predictable in value I think.

To the extent they are fed by the massive welfare state they are a great enemy of America much like the military industrial complex.

The Great Society of LBJ and the failure to pass an enforceable balanced budget amendment are the worst thing that has happened to government in America since the depression.