On Friday the White House predicted the nation’s budget deficit this year would be $445 billion — the highest ever and 20 percent larger than last year’s record shortfall. The Bush administration attempted to put a positive spin on the news, since the deficit was lower than earlier projections. Democratic Kent Conrad of South Dakota said of the Bush administration’s response “It’s a little like the captain of the Titanic saying there’s good news as the ship goes down, because it’s not sinking as fast as he’d said it would.”