Of Charts And Choices

clipped from www.powerlineblog.com BERNANKE: Congressman, as I've -- as I've indicated, we as a country are going to have to make some hard choices. We can't expect to continue to borrow certainly not 12 percent of GDP, but not even 4 or 5 percent of GDP, indefinitely. And so we need to make a plan, some decisions, about how we're going to bring the budget closer to balance over the medium term. And that means that as you discuss various programs that include spending, you need to think about the revenue sources that would be related to that. If you don't do that, then, again, you'll see interest rates rise and you'll see reluctance of lenders to provide credit to the U.S. government. That would be a very bad outcome. There is obviously no desire in the Democratic Congress to control spending, so extraordinary tax increases are no doubt in the offing. Still, there is no way the Democrats will raise taxes broadly or steeply enough to address the medium-term fiscal crisis.