"'We're Getting Away With It' Does Not Excuse Federal Borrowing To Infinity"

Excellent.

During the election campaign, the debate centered on whether our fiscal course should be stabilized with an emphasis on tax increases or spending cuts.  But there seemed to be a tacit agreement that something had to be done.

Now, an increasing segment of elite liberal opinion is arguing that there is really nothing to worry about, certainly no urgency to solve the problem soon.  The stunning fiscal realities are all widely known, it is asserted.  And yet the dollar’s relative value has not crashed, and interest rates remain at unprecedentedly low levels, notwithstanding a credit downgrade and political paralysis.  As a result, there need not be any painful tradeoff between less spending or higher taxes.  America, these people say, can borrow a virtually unlimited amount of money for as long as necessary. 

See also "Thinking About the Unthinkable".