Yes, there is a budget crisis in Washington on what to do in order to reduce the deficit. The big argument has been, "You can't raise taxes, because it would have a negative impact on the economy". And that can be argued. What was proposed instead of raising taxes is to cut spending a LOT. Some would like to cut the spending and size of government to that of a bathtub, so that it can then be drowned. But, in light of a sluggish economy, wouldn't also cutting spending by the government also result in an adverse impact on the economy? If you lay off thousands of workers, and the government stops spending, couldn't that result in businesses possibly going under also, and sectors of the economy around economy spending, shutting down?