Boy, the news just keeps getting better. A quick review: Consumer spending is down, unemployment is up, no new job growth is projected for the rest of the year, half of every dollar we spend we’re borrowing, and the deficit is now projected to be higher than anyone thought. And now this…

“It’s very important that this Congress and this president put in place policies that will bring those deficits down to a sustainable level over the medium term,” Geithner said in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday. He added that the target is reducing the gap to about 3 percent of gross domestic product, from a projected 12.9 percent this year.

The dollar extended declines today after Treasuries and American stocks slumped on concern the U.S. government’s debt rating may at some point be lowered. Bill Gross, the co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., said the U.S. “eventually” will lose its AAA grade.

The administration’s response? That it’s “critically important” to bring down America’s defict. Which would explain why spending is on the rise, we’re looking at expensive climate change legislation, the most The One is willing to trim off the budget makes even liberals chuckle, and Democrats are once again pushing socialized health care. Because they’re terribly concerned with bringing down the national deficit. It makes as much sense as Obama claiming to have saved 150,000 jobs when 4 times that many are being lost.

More: Hot Air.