Eh, I would say its well-known in deficit circles that all politicians (intellectually) desire to balance the budget, but it is basically impossible. Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and debt servicing are such large pieces of the debt pie that the entirety of discretionary spending makes basically no impact in balancing the budget. These are de-facto untouchable obligations because too many people's lives depend on them and any party that enacts austerity will be swept out of office. Neither party will increase taxes on themselves (the rich) and taxing the middle/poor guarantees you lose the next election. The only path forward in the U.S. is basically kicking the can down the road until it implodes like so many other high debt-load western nations before them.
Eh, I would say its well-known in deficit circles that all politicians (intellectually) desire to balance the budget, but it is basically impossible. Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and debt servicing are such large pieces of the debt pie that the entirety of discretionary spending makes basically no impact in balancing the budget. These are de-facto untouchable obligations because too many people's lives depend on them and any party that enacts austerity will be swept out of office. Neither party will increase taxes on themselves (the rich) and taxing the middle/poor guarantees you lose the next election. The only path forward in the U.S. is basically kicking the can down the road until it implodes like so many other high debt-load western nations before them.