NYT editorial: What They’re Not Telling You

There is a lot of heated talk in Washington these days about the deficit, unfortunately little of it serious. Playing on Americans’ deep anxiety about the economy, Republican politicians have seized the deficit issue as their own — eagerly blaming the stimulus and even an extension of unemployment insurance for the problem — while denying their own culpability for helping dig this deep hole with years of irresponsible tax cuts.

The Democrats in Congress have all but ceded the debate. The White House has pushed back some, but as the polls make clear, not nearly hard enough.

The deficit’s size is alarming. In the 2010 fiscal year, the government is projected to collect $2.2 trillion in taxes and spend $3.6 trillion, leaving a gap of $1.4 trillion.

If current tax and spending policies continue, deficits are estimated to remain near $1 trillion a year for the next decade. After that they will explode — to twice the size of today’s deficit as a share of the economy by 2050 — as health costs rise and the population ages, and outlays for Medicare, Medicaid and, to a lesser extent, Social Security continue to grow faster than revenues.

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