We’re Broke. We Can’t Just Keep Spending Like We’re Not.

Confession time: I’m open to raising taxes. As a lifelong conservative, making this case comes as easily as arguing for a weak national defense, or more United Nations funding.

So please bear with me as I walk through why I’m open to the idea.

One of the most important lessons of the last two decades is that black swan events—game-changing surprises—aren’t nearly so rare as we’d like.

In 2001, a terrorist attack resulted in two decades of military conflict. Adding up defense, health care for vets and other related costs, the price tag amounts to an estimated $5.8 trillion to $8 trillion.