SO FAR, SO GOOD

Watching the politicians in Washington do their work, I am reminded of an old joke. A man fell from the roof of a 20-story building. As he fell, he was heard to say as he passed the open windows of each floor, "So far, so good...so far, so good...so far, so good..."

We seem to be dealing with the onrushing reality of fiscal disaster in the same way.

Robert J. Samuelson writes about why the new health bill makes the situation worse.

So far, so good.

Fred Hiatt writes about the President's promise to deal with the situation.

So far, so good.

Irwin Stelzer writes about how the President intends to transform America into something like Western Europe.

So far, so good.

Moody's warns of a downgrade in the status of U.S. Treasury bonds.

So far, so good.

The Congressional Budget Office, in its analysis of the President's budget (including the health bill), says the annual deficit will hit $1.5 trillion in 2010 and $1.3 trillion in 2011.

So far, so good.

The CBO report says the total debt of the U.S. will rise from $7.5 trillion at the end of 2009 (53% of GDP) to $20.3 trillion at the end of 2020 (90% of GDP).

So far, so good.

Get the picture?