Yes it is bad, but the key is the debt not just the deficit. If the debt is to high the deficit is a problem. The deficit is bad only as a bad habit. It is the same with credit cards. If someone gets to the point where they can't pay their minimum without borrowing they are in trouble, I would think. That seems to be where we're headed. But if you look at the debt as a percentage of the GDP, it was slightly worse from 1945-1947. I am not saying I really understand this. I don't but looking at the raw data, I would say that while are debt is a very very serious problem. Whoever is in control of Congress in 2011 can be held responsible, at least to some degree, but the long term is what I am concerned about; if we could handle a bad debt in the past we should be ok in the long term, unless the current depression either gets worse or doesn't get better. I am concerned with how this affects people, not in the numbers themselves, although the latter and former are obviously part of the same equation.