Deficit denial seems permanently out of season. The ocean of red ink threatening to capsize America's ship of state has generated much talk in Washington and even a little action on Wall Street.

After President Obama's 10-year budget plan, submitted in February, didn't even meet the deficit-cutting targets recommended by his own Bowles-Simpson Commission, the Republicans responded with their own plan. Rep. Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, last month proposed ambitious spending cuts totaling $6 trillion over...