susan tanaka is vice president of research for the peterson foundation. she's joining us live from new york tonight. thanks for being with us. >> thank you, happy to be here. >> as we look at your study which by the way is available online, you indicate some sobering information, something that many americans already know but based on where we are today as a country, we're on "an unsustainable and an uncertain path." explain. >> well, in just a few words, it means that we're spending far pore than we have coming in in the form of revenue at the federal level. anybody knows if you have a gap between income and expenses you're going to end up in debt and that means trouble. >> part of the debate is also focused on debt as a ratio of the gdp. we have heard from the obama administration that at least that number is on its way down into that number would be on its way down if the policymakers decided not to do a lot of things that they like to do. for example, if they decided not to extend all the tax cuts tax that were first enacted in 2001-2003 and extended