Krugman on "Starving the Beast"

Since the late 1970s, conservatives have sought to shrink the size of government through a strategy of "starving the beast", which consists of reducing government revenue streams (i.e. instituting major tax cuts) while simultaneously allowing spending to go unchanged. Over time, growing government deficits will force the termination of social welfare programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the like. Paul Krugman has a good take on this strategy and calls the Republican's bluff.