If one party says 2+2=4 and the other says 2+2=17, then yes, I'm spouting party line. The GOP absolutely Will. Not. Budge. on raising taxes as a revenue generat

If one party says 2+2=4 and the other says 2+2=17, then yes, I'm spouting party line. The GOP absolutely Will. Not. Budge. on raising taxes as a revenue generator. Therefore, they are not truly serious about the deficit. They will cut spending - only in places they don't like - but they won't increase revenue. So all this stuff about the debt ceiling? That's just playing to the cheap seats. It's grandstanding, and it's irresponsible. That said, there's nothing inherently wrong with running a deficit, as long as the debt can be serviced without breakdown (which is currently and has always been the case). Moreover, there's a strong argument that the federal government must run a deficit, for the sake of the stability of capital markets. In times of crisis, investors need to be able to shift their capital into low-risk securities, and US treasury bonds are the lowest risk reasonably liquid investment there is. Otherwise, everyone would be stuck during whatever the next crisis is, whether it's real estate or the stock market or whatever. Social Security and Medicare are not endlessly growing monsters that engulf the universe. They represent a certain percentage of the population (retirees), and no more than that. As long as the working population can generate enough revenue to keep them going (and they can), it will work forever.