It may be too late to inject a little rationality in the balanced budget debate. But what the heck.
Somebody has to try.
The U.S. budget deficit is one of the lowest of any government on the planet. In Europe, the banking community decided that for countries to join a common currency union they had to have their financial house in order. For these bankers, that meant having a budget deficit of 3 percent or less. The U.S. deficit is under 2 percent. On the other hand, in 112 years of deficit spending since 1791 we've never suffered a depression.