In today's column, I quote the James Fallows from his cover-story essay about the economic collapse in The Atlantic three years ago. Here's another excerpt from a section called Cocking The Gun, about our march to collapse: "Late in 2003 Congress dramatically escalated the fiscal problem by adding prescription-drug coverage to Medicare, with barely any discussion of its long-term cost. David M. Walker, the government's comptroller general at the time, said that the action was part of ‘the most reckless fiscal year in the history of the Republic,’ because [it] added roughly $13 trillion to the government's long-term commitments.”  The Fallows piece, Countdown to a Meltdown, looks back at the crash from a hypothetical national election in 2016. It was a memorable piece, and an interesting read in light of all that's happened since it was published, summer '05.