Rhetoric on U.S. ‘Deficit-Reduction' is Nonsense

``Here is what is really taking place at the political circus in Washington. Republicans and Democrats are (supposedly) negotiating to reduce a small portion of future U.S. deficits, totaling $4 trillion over a period of many years. Suddenly this "Grand Bargain" doesn't sound quite so grand, does it? In fact, if they wanted, U.S. lawmakers could proclaim an even "bigger deal" when these anti-climactic "negotiations" mercifully come to an end: they could "reduce the deficit" by the same amount each year -- but continue this "deficit fighting" over a 100 years (or a thousand), and "reduce the deficit" by $20 trillion, or $50 trillion''