Today the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) announced the projected budget deficit for 2013. Only $845 Billion. It's the first time the deficit has fallen below $1 Trillion since Obama took office. And even more concerning is the projection that the jobless rate will stay above 7.5% through 2014. Further projected is that the debt will reach $26 Trillion by the year 2023.
  Many folks would marginalize and minimize the impact of these events. By comparing the deficit and debt to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) a person can claim that the percentage is smaller, therefor it's not important that we create urgency around the issue. I liken this claim to that of a ship that is taking on water, and as we continue to expand the size of the ship, someone yells out "The hole looks smaller as the ship gets bigger!"
 
  A more accurate comparison could be contrived by comparing the amount of debt to population, or the amount of the deficit to the revenue received.

  It is just a commonplace for the US government to postpone dealing with tough issues, until the last possible moment, at which time the issue is compounded. Any business that ran their business this way would go out of business.


Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/281177-cbo-projects-845b-budget-deficit-for-2013