In 1523, Henry 8th, one of England's more despotic kings, decided to go to war with France. To pay for this adventure, and in the wake of his wasteful spending, he sent Cardinal Wolsey to scare up 800,000 pounds in taxes. Wolsey met with much resistance, not unlike the reception new tax plans get today. Henry relented on the taxes and cancelled his war.
So, almost 500 years later, why do we care?
Even Henry, who was used to getting his way, when advised that he didn't have the money to pay for a war, abandoned the idea. He certainly didn't borrow an amount of money that would be billions in today's dollars. Wars, like other governmental activities, have budgetary constraints. Well, at least they once did.
Presidents Bush and Obama probably regard Henry as a political wuss. Over the last nine years, these two presidents have spent hundreds of billions in two countries, fighting... defending... creating... doing high cost military stuff. Unlike Henry, they didn't send a modern Wolsey out to collect taxes for it. In fact, they both seem to claim that we can have bigger, better, more expensive wars and still cut taxes.
These two presidents will be footnotes in the history books before these wars are paid for, if ever.
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