At the beginning of the 20th century American was known as the Great Melting Pot.  The industrial revolution spawned a need for labor in the American industrial complex.  American citizens, and many LEGAL immigrants went to work each morning in the steel mills, manufacturing plants, etc...  LEGAL immigrants from all over the world flooded Ellis Island.  New York city was a conclave of numerous ethnic groups.  These groups brought their various customs and languages, but all assimilated into a cohesive unit called America.  Fast forward to the 1980's and you have the rise of the computer age.  Computer Science in the 1970's and 1980's was limited to a few scientists and large corporations like IBM.  This new age required people power just as the industrial revolution, but instead of manual labor in the form of LEGAL immigrants, it required brain power provided by American universities.  Of course, this is also the time that illegal immigration really started getting to be something beyond just a few people.  It was 100,000's of illegal immigrants eventually leading to the granting of amnesty to roughly three million illegal aliens.  I don't claim to know how well the assimilation of these illegal immigrants went in the 1980's, but it is clear the illegal immigrant problem is 10 times worse in 2009 and with VERY limited assimilation.  You can see the lack of assimilation in these non-English speakers and their mini cultures within various cities around the USA.  The proverbial Melting Pot has become nothing more than a Chunky Soup commercial except that it is illegal immigrants getting "filled up" on government programs.  Not food.  Well, probably food stamps as well, so technically food.  Given the high level of government incompetence in virtually every nook and cranny minus the defense force, it is no surprise that the USA's fiscal policy is a heterogeneous collage of non-related gobblygook.  For instance, take the recent supplemental funding bill for the War on Terror.  In a sane world, the passage of a War on Terror bill would be a one day event.  The generals state their needs, the Department of Defense applies some cost formula, the final number is formally presented in written form with itemization, etc, the Congress votes in favor of the bill.  Not in the 21st century Congress though.  The 21st century Congressional bill procedure is similar the the one above, except that unrelated items are jammed in to the "can't fail" bill.  Our troops deserve better than a Congress that would taint their funding with a $4,500 clunker car credit?  What the heck!  This goes on all the time though.  What should be a homogeneous bill, or Melting pot, of terrorist killing military hardware becomes a Chunky Soup of politicians' pet projects laid on the backs of taxpayers.  While Congress spends the money of 22nd/23rd century generations now, the US Treasury doesn't even know how much money is "out there."  The treasury auctions debt, and another piece of the American dream is lost overseas.  Or lost then found.  A request of the Congress.  In the next Chunky Soup sandwich of a bill, please appropriate funds for anti-depressants.  I bet over 50% of American citizens will need them by 2010.