By Tim Price, originally published on Next New Deal Click here to receive the Daily Digest via email. The Dwindling Deficit (NYT) Paul Krugman argues that in the medium term, there is no deficit crisis to speak of, and in the long term, the future is just too unpredictable for us to solve our problems by having 2040's budget debates today, unless Marty McFly makes a run for Congress. Republicans: Okay, Maybe We Can't Shoot the Hostage, But Maybe We Can Slap Him Around or Something (New York) Jonathan Chait notes that as House Republicans gather for a retreat to talk debt ceiling strategy, they seem to be caught between their realization that threats to force the U.S.