Libertarian Veronique de Rugy makes the standard libertarian argument that we should pay no attention to the tax cuts behind the curtain when we examine the cause of our projected debt. The whole issue is spending. Therefore we can still extend the tax cuts by another few trillion without having any effect on the deficit. Or something.
Her twist on the classic dodge is to create a chart:
Notice that she is comparing the cost of the tax cuts not to any increase in spending but to the cost of the entire federal budget over the next decade. So, yes, we would save a lot more money by shutting down the entire federal government for a decade than we would be phasing out the Bush tax cuts. Great point.