Budget fixes are simple -- and unthinkable

Fareed Zakaria
CNN
February 4, 2010

Editor's note: Fareed Zakaria is an author and foreign affairs analyst who hosts "Fareed Zakaria GPS" on CNN U.S. on Sundays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET and CNN International at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. CET / 5 p.m. Abu Dhabi / 9 p.m. HK

New York (CNN) -- The solutions to America's long-term budget deficits are surprisingly simple, but they're politically unthinkable in today's Washington, says analyst Fareed Zakaria.

America's failure to deal with its growing budget deficit is hurting its image internationally, according to Zakaria. President Obama proposed a $3.8 trillion budget Monday, projecting a deficit of more than $1.5 trillion this year and nearly $1.3 trillion for the 2011 budget year.

Zakaria, author and host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria: GPS," spoke to CNN Wednesday.

CNN: So the president released his budget this week, projecting deficits almost as far as the eye can see. What do you make of it?

Fareed Zakaria: The real problem is not the current deficits that the president has projected. These deficits are to a large extent inescapable because of the financial emergency we find ourselves in, the rescue of the financial system, the stimulus package to jump-start the American economy. But it's worth understanding why this gets us to 10 percent of GDP, the worst deficit since World War II.

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