A few things. Only 17% GDP spending in 83 was non-defense and the US was in a cold war arms race with the USSR. Call it bad policy or whatever, but we are no longer saddled with nearly as large a defense burden, so we no longer have that excuse. According to your own second link, spending will never be as low as 22.7% through 2015, with an average of 23%, after 3 years of 24.7%, 25.4%, and 25.1% respectively, the three largest years since WWII. I think your own post says it all. Can we really afford to outspend our revenues that much for years to come? Can we rely on those revenue figures, which must take into account economic growth, given the current economic outlook? After we have had 3 years of enormous, almost unprecedented spending, how long can we kick the can down the road until we get to spending something like 20% or less to make up for the deficit? Do you really think spending is not the problem here?