So where were the deficits during the Clinton massive entitlement spending years when we were not at war, and prior to the massive hit on our economy on 9/11? (The clinton admin was spending money on mood lights in NYC, and other such nonsense that has been cut out with this President).
You cannot ascribe this deficit spending to entitlements only, and ignore the recession President Bush inherited, and the expenditures of war.
That was during boom/bubble years, and I think we had one small surplus budget come out of that. You really can't blame the recession for the deficits because recessions inevitably happen -- they're a part of the business cycle. And besides, ours was three+ years ago!
Over the long term it's the entitlements that constrain both the federal and state budgets. Yes, we can and are trying to grow our way out of deficit, but that takes time, since we have to outgrow the growing entitlements. There's very little non-entitlement spending to be cut in $ terms.