Debt service (a large and growing part of the budget) can't be cut, period. Existing entitlements can't really be cut, the best you can hope for in a practical

Debt service (a large and growing part of the budget) can't be cut, period. Existing entitlements can't really be cut, the best you can hope for in a practical sense is giving a different deal to younger people, which doesn't change the budget outlook immediately. You're right that the math does not add up. It doesn't add up because we insist on living in a fantasyland where revenues are off the table.