Two new voices and a different set of topics keep this second installment of deficit talk moving right along. ER: "Deficit spending elects politicians. Whatever you might say about it in terms of... its impact on the economy,... if a politician can spend more than they tax, then they have distributed more gain than pain and then they assume the voters will react in kind and they will get themselves re-elected." ... DPM: "The deficit, regardless of the economic impact you can say it has or doesn't have, has a political impact that causes levels of anxiety.... There is no tax 'break' in the code better than employer-aided educational assistance.... We have to fight every year to keep it because of the deficit." ... JBQ: "I think it's quite remarkable in fact that we have had two doses of deficit reduction in three years in terms of tax increases, spending cuts ... and people have more or less taken it. I mean, there are a lot of miserable people out there, but they are buying into the short-term pain for the long-term gain. The question is, How long will they last?"