[Will]

Well, part of the reason that Clinton managed to get surpluses by the end of his time in office was by realizing that the US wasn't in an arms race with the USSR any longer. Then Bush got in office, and brought with him a bunch of advisers from the Reagan and Bush Sr. era, who are still of the mindset that the US needs a large standing army (while slashing taxes to boot, 'Reaganomics'). Only problem is, there isn't a national enemy to justify it. The closest thing we got is "terrorism", and that's not something you fight by throwing more bodies at it, it's fought via infiltration.

You might say that countries like China could become an enemy, but I don't think so. Both the US and China have too much to gain by staying on each others' good sides, and the Communism boogeyman is no longer effective as a justification for the 35-and-under age group (people who grew up watching USSR fall).

Let the tax cuts expire, freeze military spending at the current amount (sans Afghanistan/Iraq spending) for a decade or so before allowing it to grow with inflation again, and there will be a federal budget surplus again. After that, you only need 536 miracles to get that surplus to pay off the debt to a more reasonable level (say, $1 trillion instead of the over $8 trillion it's at now). Because every time you get a politician to pass up the opportunity for budgeting something to make themselves look good, it's a miracle, and it would take convincing 435 Reps, 100 Sens, and 1 Prez to make that happen.

Anyway... ethanol. Not only would it be cool to have cars that use it, but if you drink it in little tiny cups, the world gets all wobbly!