There was a time when the left was so outraged by deficit spending on matters such as defense that they launched commercials to attack the right. How dare we make future generations pay for our current defense expenditures, groups like MoveOn.org said. How fiscally responsible they were under President Bush.

Then, of course, a Democratic president came into office and the agenda included expensive liberal pet projects the nation doesn’t have the money for. Suddenly putting future generations on the line for not billions but trillions of dollars is justified. Suddenly expanding the federal deficit by $181 billion in one month alone isn’t cause for outrage.

Bailouts for financial firms and billions in tax revenue lost because of the recession drove the deficit to a record $1.3 trillion in July, according to the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Tax receipts that have fallen due to the poor economy and increased spending to save car companies, banks and mortgage firms were major contributors to the federal deficit, according to CBO, which provides official budget numbers for Congress. The federal deficit grew by another $181 billion in July.

Falling tax receipts and increased spending on bailouts for auto companies and the financial sector and for the economic stimulus package added to the deficit, according to CBO, which provides official budget numbers for Congress.

Spending through July of 2009 has increased by $530 billion, which is 21 percent over the same period in 2008. The bailout money for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae accounted for almost half of the spending increase. Unemployment benefits have more than doubled, Medicaid spending has grown by a quarter and Medicare spending has increased by 11 percent.

And yet the left is ready to sing “Happy Days are Here Again” because the Dow Jones is doing slightly better than it was before. Just how bad will the deficit get?

The independent budget scorekeeper has projected the deficit to reach $1.8 trillion by the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30. The deficit in 2008 reached $455 billion, which was a record at the time.

You’ll recall that the $455 billion deficit of last year was cause for outrage amongst the left at the time. We heard about how horribly the Republican Party had been watching over the national coffer. And yet suddenly we’re looking at a nearly $2 trillion deficit under a liberal Democratic president. Funny how deficits suddenly become acceptable when the money is spent on liberal causes.

This probably isn’t the news Democrats would like the nation to hear as they’re trying to sell Americans on a $1 trillion government takeover of health care. And it certainly isn’t going to relieve pressure on the Blue Dogs to actually stand their ground.