James --- you are right --- but WRONG

James, NY has left a new comment on your post "1/25/2007 07:42:00 AM": Surely you can't be serious Ben. 2006's federal budget deficit was actually more than $400 BILLION, with a B, dollars. That brought our total national debt to $8.6 TRILLION, with a T. The interest payments on that amount are $406 BILLION dollars for fiscal year 2006. We don't need to be adding any more debt to this $8.6 trillion total, Ben. That's the bottom line.

Ben's response:

Yes, James, that was the deficit in FY 2006. But we are already well into FY 2007 and the a healthy economy is yielding more tax revenues.

IAE >In Any Event < $.4 - $.5 B< is just about chump change in a $14 Trillion (ca.) economy.