Stuff we should all know by now - the causes of the US Defecit

For this week's know-it-all (because you darn well should) tidbit, a chart explaining US budget deficits, both recent and projected.  Another thing that's not in the news much, but hopefully will become more common knowledge as time goes on, is the contribution war and tax cuts have made to the US national debt.  From this article by James Fallows