USA Today reports: "Speaking to several Democratic colleagues Tuesday, Sen. Charles Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said they should all use the word 'extreme' when describing the budget cuts that Tea Party Republicans were seeking in the ongoing budget negotiations."
This is the world of Mr. Schumer and the Washington Democrats: It's "extreme" to cut $60 billion out of a $3.8 trillion federal budget. That's about a 1.6% cut. Some might describe as "extreme" the increase in the federal budget — to $3.819 trillion in 2011 from $2.655 trillion in 2006 — that has occurred since Mr. Schumer and his Democratic colleagues took control of the Senate in the 2006 election. That's an increase of 44%. This is Washington Democratic math for you: increase spending by 44%, then denounce a 1.6% cut as "extreme."