Can't the NYT Find Someone Who Isn't Scared by Numbers to Talk About the Deficit?

Apparently the answer is "no." Steven Rattner used his NYT column to make the important complaint that we are starving large areas of the federal government, leading to a deteriorating infrastructure and poor quality public service. All of this is fine. It has been said a few hundred thousand times, but it can't hurt to say it a few hundred thousand more.

But then Rattner tells us:

"Yes, we needed to bring the deficit down. And yes, we still face terrifyingly large obligations in years to com...