You're right to say that the depth of the deficit is important. I'd be more worried about our trade performance. Over the past decade we had very few monthly trade surpluses despite the best terms of trade for a very long time. Very large numbers like $96 billion can sound terrible, but they need to be put in context across a cycle. If when the economy comes good we're running $25 billion surpluses, debt gets knocked off quickly. They need to keep spending tight in the good times not the bad times.
