Those investments stem from a societal choice that we should make. The current fashion tends more toward the argument that the debt is so enormous that social programs increase our debt and that we're paying too much in taxes. We must make societal choices and invest. Instead of viewing social programs as expenses, they should instead be viewed as investments. In education, for example, if we enable a woman head of a single-parent family to earn a diploma, she will get a job that will provide her with a decent salary and she will ultimately pay taxes.
On March 22nd, 2007. See this statement in context.