Most of the country must think DC elites - journalists, politicians - are completely insane for talking about "the deficit" right now. Polls show that nobody gives a shit about the deficit, but I don't need polls to actually tell me that. Get a goddamn clue.
To make matters worse, most of the DC elites are talking almost exclusively about extending the Bush tax rates, which would mean a massive increase in the deficit and absolutely zero economic stimulus created. Oh. Wait. Sorry. "Stimulus" is a bad word now.