Federal deficit can shrink and the debt will still increase. Does anybody know why that is true?

There is a reason why many in our government wanted the debt limit raised even with declining rate of deficit spending.

But when you start talking big numbers, it isn't unusual for rates of change to decrease. That is why big companies start to have slower growth. The actual numbers are still big, but the percentage decreases.

It's probably not a bad thing for the folks at media matters to read up a bit on the difference between deficit and debt. Two different animals altogether.