When Does the War on Deficits Start?

Reuters this morning reports that according to America's top business economists, "the budget deficit has overtaken terrorism as the greatest short-term risk to the U.S. economy, and concern about the current gap is rising."

For President Bush, who has staked his legacy on fighting terrorism, that creates a big problem. As the Associated Press reports, "Bush’s legacy will be a swollen federal debt." What was once expected to be a $5.6 trillion surplus over 10 years is now projected to be at least a $4 trillion deficit by 2015 if Bush’s tax cuts are made permanent and his Social Security suggestions adopted. That's almost a $10 trillion decline in just 8 years.

Now, it's still possible Bush could realize just how much he's screwing up our economy for the long term. So the question for the White House is - when does the War on Deficits start?