No doubt most of the chatter about the new projections of a $1.5 trillion deficit will focus on spending. But spending is just one side of the equation. The other side, of course, is revenue, and any honest debate over the deficit needs to take that into account, especially in light of this:
Tax revenues are projected to drop to their lowest levels since 1950, when measured against the size of the economy.
In the short-term, the best thing we can do to reduce the deficit is to increase economic growth, not reduce spending. Long-run we need to bring down the cost of health care and retarget war expenditures on domestic investments. But we also can't ignore that current tax policy -- in particular, the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy -- have brought tax revenue to their lowest levels in six decades.