Lisa Desjardins:

That's right, Judy.

The deficit is now expected to close in on $1 trillion this year, and then stay over $1 trillion for every year on the horizon. All told, the CBO says, due to recent changes in policy and the economy, deficits over the next decade will be $800 billion higher than it projected just a few months ago.

Those changes include a trio of debt-pushers. The bipartisan budget deal is raising spending, the Republican tax cuts are lowering revenue, and the economy overall is slowing down.

Let's break this down with Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Maya, thank you for joining us.

I want to depict to people the long-term issue here. Let's look at what the deficits are projected to be now for the next few years. Look at that, $1 trillion, $1 trillion, $1 trillion, as far as the eye can see, $1 trillion-and-above deficits.

And let's look at how this relates to GDP and the curve historically. You can see that high peak there is World War II. And we now see that we are on a path to near those levels that we were hitting in World War II.

I think biggest question to you, Maya, you have said and CBO has said this level of debt is unsustainable. But what does that really mean to the average American? What will happen if we do keep on this trajectory?