Anton @41

“Reagan ran huge deficits yes, but as a function of GDP they were actually growing smaller.”

Yeah, I can appreciate that…but even the most conservative of conservatives these days seems to think we need to run deficits. Why? Why is it absolute poison and insanity to think that we could run modest SURPLUSES sometimes? First for about 20,000 consecutive years to pay off our national debt, and then once in awhile to just sock a little away for a rainy day, you know? I’m obviously no economist, but I guess I’m just not smart enough to understand why it’s so damned bad just to save some money to have a little just in case. I do it in my own life, and thankfully I can report that neither I nor any member of my household has dropped dead because of it.