The scarier fact to me is that in the 2009 budget, the deficit was actually bigger than the total so-called discretionary spending.
That means that a deficit would still exist for 2009 even if the only government spending were for interest on the debt, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal "entitlement" programs.
That means that a deficit would still exist for 2009 even if the only government spending were for interest on the debt, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal "entitlement" programs.
I believe that's generally referred to as bad.