$1.19T Budget Deficit Will Normalize the Word "Trillion"

Obama is promising to exert all the fiscal control he can as President, and has even hired a new "chief performance officer," former McKinsey consultant Nancy Killefer, to oversee spending. Nonetheless he said today that he expects the budget deficit, driven by stimulus payments to put the ruined economy back on track, will grow in 2008 to about $1.19 trillion, representing eight percent of the federal budget. For purposes of comparison, last year's deficit was $455 billion. Just as the term "millionaire" lost its aura in the age of billionaires, we expect billions to be downgraded to everyday use, with Americans adopting expressions like "Thanks a billion," "I've told you kids a billion times," and "You're one in a billion." And, finally, Donald Trump will be seen for the cheap loser that he is.