With a gargantuan national debt whose runaway growth shows no signs of abating, and a systemic budget deficit, it is worth keeping in mind that defense spending is not the driver of either the deficit or the growing debt. Here’s the last 100 years of federal spending by major category. Notice that we’re not far from the moment when interest on the national debt will come to exceed defense spending. And a lot of that interest will be paid to the nation we’re most anxious to defend against: China.