Jagadeesh Gokhale writes,

As reported by its trustees, Social Security’s total imbalance has increased from $10.4 trillion in 2004 to $13.4 trillion in 2006 – a jump of $3.0 trillion in just two years. And Medicare’s imbalance has grown from $61.6 trillion in 2004 to $70.5 trillion today – an increase of $8.9 trillion in the same period.

That’s $11.9 trillion in new debt in the past two years alone. Put another way, it’s 85 percent of the $14 trillion of GDP that the United States will likely produce this year.

Wall Street economist Henry Kaufman was known as Dr. Doom back in the day of double-digit interest rates. Now, I would give that honor to Gokhale.

Given the way entitlement policy was handled, one cannot say that the Republicans cut taxes. They deferred them.