Liberal columnist: hey, it could have been worse!

Bloomberg: it’s a good thing the government forced those low-flow toilets on us, or this economy would’ve gone down the drain by now:

U.S. unemployment will surge to 10 percent this year and the budget deficit will be $1.5 trillion next year, both higher than previous Obama administration forecasts because of a recession that was deeper and longer than expected, White House budget chief Peter Orszag said.

…Separately, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office today predicted that the jobless rate would average 10.2 percent next year, gloomier than the White House projection, and forecast the deficit for this year at $1.6 trillion, slightly worse than the White House estimate.

…The median estimate of 31 economists in a Bloomberg News survey completed Aug. 21 was for a fiscal year 2010 deficit of $1.3 trillion.

Either way:

The budget shortfall for 2010 would mark the second straight year of trillion-dollar deficits.

And:

Over the next decade, the budget picture is darker, with the 10-year deficit reaching $9.05 trillion, up from $7.1 trillion forecast in May, the budget office said Aug. 19.

Meanwhile, Pundette links to this EJ Dionne column: Obama saved the economy, and we’re a bunch of ingrates!

If governments around the world, including our own, had not acted aggressively — and had not spent piles of money — a very bad economic situation would have become cataclysmic.

If it was “very bad” before, what is it now?

Via Memeorandum.