But the CBO report this weekend assumes that all of the deficit reduction Obama described is implemented along with about $1.2 trillion in savings from automatic spending cuts. In other words, the report assumes deficit reduction along the lines that Obama says is the goal.

Yet public debt (U.S. debt held by investors), is projected to rise from $12.2 trillion in 2013 to $19.9 trillion by 2023. Gross debt (which includes money the federal government owes other government funds, such the Social Security system) is projected to grow from $17 trillion in 2013 to $26 trillion by 2023. On a more comparable basis, the public debt is projected to be 77 percent of GDP by 2023, or more than double the 36.3 percent that it was in 2007, before the onset of the economic crisis. Of course, this is just over the next decade. The budget picture gets even worse from there.