Remember those heady days in the late 1990s when we didn’t have a budget deficit? Every quarter we’d get a sunny report from Tom Brokaw and those nice folks at NPR telling us that our nation’s surplus was even more than we thought! Well, those days are over. Under the Bush administration, we have returned to the days of deficit and – double-whammy – that darn deficit just keeps getting bigger.

What’s an administration to do? Cut taxes! Stimulate the economy! Go to war! (Those Iranians have been awfully pesky lately.) Anything but the cold hard truth of responsible budgeting: hold onto the money, pay the debts, make the difficult decisions and do what needs to be done. We learned that in Personal Finance in the 11th grade. Back when we could still afford to offer the 11th grade.