Undisciplined

Good point about surplus and high taxation. 

Spending is the key metric because taxation is what governments spend not what it collects. 

I wish people would stop talking about balancing the budget.   We can “balance” the budget with high taxes but that trade off is unacceptable 

Bell_curve

econ

U.S. Treasury Cash Surge 

TomK

I don't think so. If they spent just as much but were running a surplus because taxes were so high, that would be worse.

I agree though, that most of the time it's a distraction and spending is more important.