Give This Headline Writer a Pat on the Back

Way to use digits, Tucson Citizen.

This is the headline on their article about the soaring deficit projections from the Congressional Budget Office: "Now We'll Owe $2,400,000,000,000."

I've been on the lookout for a story that goes beyond the call of duty to hit this story home. This article is perfectly solid, but the Tucson Citizen's headline is what sells it.

My only criticism is that the CBO's budget predictions are just that. They're by no means certain. So the headline would have been a bit more accurate if the Citizen had said, "Now We May Owe $2,400,000,000,000."

Still, seeing "$2.4 trillion" just kind of boggles the mind and fails to register. Seeing 11 zeros is a bit of a jolt. In a good way.