Brian Riedl of Heritage emails:

• The current debt ratio is *below* the post-war average, and even lower than the debt ratio in the booming late 1990s;
• The portion of federal spending going to pay interest on the debt has actually *fallen* over the past two decades;
• The 1997-2001 budget surpluses resulted from a (bubble-influenced) revenue boom and the end of the cold war, not because of courageous domestic spending cuts;
• The 2002-2008 budget deficits would have occurred even without any tax cuts; and
• The current $5.4 trillion public debt is minor compared to the $42.9 trillion in unfunded Social Security and Medicare hole.

More here.