number two, the cost of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. $1.3 trillion at this moment. a distant third, the president s stimulus plan, $831 billion. never thought $831 billion would look cheap. well, here s another powerful number. right now this country is paying $224 billion a year in interest on our debt and that number is mushrooming. it becomes an exponential problem. by 2020 we will be paying $544 billion in interest alone. if you want to see something really scary, let s compare that $544 billion to medicare. by 2020 in the year we re paying $544 billion in interest, medicare will cost a mere $279 billion. we ll be paying almost double that just in interest on our debt. now, you may say that s clearly foul and bad and terrible things, but some people believe that spending more is the best way to get this country growing again, to grow out of our problem. paul krugman said the stimulus plan was not big enough. he wants here $800 billion on top of what we already spent