Meanwhile, Back at the Deficit

In a NYT Op Ed titled, "Attention: Deficit Disorder," former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin describes with his customary clarity the dangers the Bush deficits hold for our economy:

Virtually all mainstream economists agree that, over time, sustained deficits crowd out private investment, increase interest rates, and reduce productivity and economic growth. But, far more dangerously, if markets here and abroad begin to fear long-term fiscal disarray and our related trade imbalances, those markets could then demand sharply higher interest rates for providing long-term debt capital and could put abrupt and sharp downward pressure on the dollar.

Of course, reducing budget deficits is boring grownup stuff compared to shifting the government as drastically to the right as possible. Which is perhaps why Dick Cheney said, "Deficits don't matter."