That would be abstract, Krugman wants us to follow Greece.
Balancing the budget was a primary Republican/conservative goal of 1994, but neither side is interested that now. Both want to play “Run up the debt and blame the other party” with democrats in the lead with most of the wasteful spending. Obama would love to dump this problem on the next congress and claim he played no part in creating it(as silly as it sounds) .
The Dems have controlled Congress since 2007.