Reply #22: Yes, but the stance precludes large additions to it

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

This deficit concern won't do much, if anything, to reduce the deficit.

But what it does do is preclude consideration of steps that would add a lot to the deficit, even if they are the right thing to do today in order to have a healthier tax base tomorrow.

Anything that would actually reduce the deficit in the next few years would be economic suicide, even including raising taxes on the rich. (If taxes were raised on the rich to divert the money to the less-rich that would be fine. But raising taxes to pay down deficit/debt would be crippling.)