This past month's government-shutdown fight pales in comparison to the longer-term budget fight ahead.
In the words of a leading congressional budget-cutter, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), "We must now move from saving billions to saving trillions."
Ryan is right. The national debt is skyrocketing at the rate of:
• $200,000,000 ($200 million) an hour
• $30,000,000,000 ($30 billion) a week
• $120,000,000,000 ($120 billion) a month
• $1,600,000,000,000 ($1.6 trillion) a year