Other views: Trillion dollar deficits the new normal?

Stan Collender, Forbes:

“He’s not going to be in office when they start to happen, but Paul Ryan’s most lasting legacy as speaker of the House will be as the person who enabled permanent trillion dollar deficits. ... Ryan not only made all this happen, he is taking a great deal of satisfaction from having done it. He specifically cited the tax bill ... as one of his proudest accomplishments.”

Martin Neil Baily, Jason Furman, Alan B. Krueger, Laura D'Andrea Tyson and Janet L. Yellen, The Washington Post:

“The primary reason the deficit in coming years will now be higher than had been expected is the reduction in tax revenue from last year’s tax cuts, not an increase in spending. ... The main entitlement programs are Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits and Medicaid. These widely popular programs are indeed large and projected to grow as a share of the economy, not because of increased generosity of benefits but because of the aging of the population and the increase in economywide health costs. ... Advocacy of paying for large tax cuts with entitlement reductions would take the United States in the wrong direction.”

Veronique de Rugy, Reason:

“Though it's a shame that lawmakers passed tax cuts without cutting spending to offset short-term losses in revenue, there’s no doubt that Social Security and Medicare deficits are almost entirely to blame for our impending debt crisis. It’s time to wise up and reform these programs.”