"Deficits are like smoking: difficult to give up."

"They can be cut only at the cost of genuine hardship, for many people will have become dependent upon them for their livelihood. Hence withdrawal symptoms are likely to be severe; and hardship is always politically hazardous to inflict, even when it is a necessary corrective to previous excess."

~Theodore Dalrymple

For every government action, there is an equal and parallel reaction. Seems like there's a lot of things you could say that about other than just deficits.

Hat tip Ed Driscoll.