Post Invents Longstanding Problem of the Debt

The Post wrongly implied that the problem of a large national debt has been longstanding. It told readers that the Congressional supercommittee is trying to "break the impasse over taxes that has long blocked aggressive action to tame the national debt."

Actually, the budget deficits prior to the downturn were relatively modest. The Congressional Budget Office actually projected that the deficit would turn to a surplus after the Bush tax cuts were scheduled to expire this year. The large...