It's the Spending Stupid

. . . as I've explained many times, most recently here. The Skeptical Optimist has a rosy outlook because his focus is on near-term prospects for eliminating the deficit. But look at the following chart (and ignore the revenue line).

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budgetcharts/2007_budget/current_trends.pdf

I'm certainly not picking on The Skeptical Optimist, who has a rather sensible view of the deficit. But I am picking on "deficit hawks" who want to attack the deficit by raising taxes. All that does is lend an air of legitimacy to the government's confiscation of resources through spending.