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Well, a deficit reflects an imbalance between spending and revenue, and so narrowing it requires acting on one, the other or both.

If the U.S. Government was a company, the deficit would be $5 trillion because they would have to account by general accepted accounting principles. But actually they encourage government spending, reckless government spending, because the government can issue Treasury bills at extremely low interest rates.

Essentially, when we run a deficit, we are borrowing money to buy things that are made overseas.

Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations, and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hikers.

Traditionally, the way deficits have been cut is you hold expenditures more or less constant in real dollars and then let growth come in to fill it up.

The budget doesn't have much control over the government. Then again, the government doesn't have much control over the budget.

To finance deficits, the government must sell bonds to investors, competing for capital that could otherwise be used to invest in stocks or corporate bonds. Government borrowings raise long-term interest rates, stifling economic growth.

In order to reduce the deficit, there has to be revenue in addition to cuts.

Unlike the federal government, most states don't have the option of running a deficit.

The deficit is the symptom, but spending is the disease.