The short answer is yes, assuming nothing drastic happens. It will make no difference to his opponents, who will simply declare that had one of their own been in office all this time, it would have been sunny surpluses all the way in the first place.

That's really not the main point I'm trying to make. The point is that these dropping deficits are under the most strained conditions: a lack of constraint on spending (a bipartisan problem) and an ongoing war effort. Obviously, the credit is all due to burgeoning tax receipts, and, by definition, the current tax policies.

Now, whether we can stay in surplus is another question entirely.

Every economic forecaster addressing long-term Federal budget problems points squarely at entitlements, particularly Medicare, as the primary surplus-killer of the future.