Washington ( CNN ) -- The House has passed the Republican budget plan submitted by Rep. Paul Ryan , but some budget experts believe that he federal government is so far in the red that it may not balance the budget again in our lifetime . `` We may never , as a country , have a balanced budget again , '' said Marc Goldwein , policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget . `` And you know what ? We do n't have to . '' Goldwein is a bit of a budget wunderkind who was also a staffer for the Bowles-Simpson Commission , established by President Obama to address the nation 's fiscal problems , and for the congressional super committee . He and the nonpartisan think tank where he works used to push vehemently for a balanced budget . But no longer . Now the bumper sticker hanging in his cubicle reads , `` Stabilize the Debt . '' He feels that Washington has fallen so deep into the deficit hole that it has set off a seismic shift among some fiscal hawks . They now hope to contain the deficit , not erase it . `` It 'd be great if we could balance the budget , '' Goldwein said . `` But ... it 's just not realistic to look at balancing the budget right now . Right now , what we need to look at is bringing the debt down relative to the economy . '' The Ryan budget , despite its cuts and aggressive fiscal moves , does not balance the budget for at least 23 years , according to the House Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office . House passes GOP budget . `` This just shows you how deep of a hole our country is in , '' Ryan , a Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the Budget Committee , said when asked about the 2035 budget balance date . But in a city where politicians pass appropriation legislation for a few months or sometimes even a few days at a time , such a long timeline for balancing the budget seems hypothetical at best and meaningless at worst . Hence that unlikely catchphrase `` stabilize the debt . '' The idea is to keep government 's annual deficits small enough that they are outpaced by the growth in the economy . That , some say , would stop the current explosive path the national debt is on . For example , the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the 2011 deficit was nearly 9 % of the economy , as measured by gross domestic product . But GDP itself grew by less than 2 % during the same time . Think of the economy as a living thing , like a tree . If the tree grew by a couple of feet last year but the deficit burned up several times that growth , it would use far more resources than had been created in the past year . Goldwein and those who share his outlook want a budget under which that tree , the economy , grows by more than the deficit is burning and keeps adding fiscal height overall . But under this scenario , the debt itself would probably grow -- just more slowly . `` We do n't need a balanced budget , '' Goldwein concluded . `` What we need to do is stabilize the debt relative to the economy . '' To do that would take about $ 4 trillion in deficit cuts , he and others estimate . The Ryan budget gets there , but barely . The problem ? `` We 're not going to get to this with one party , '' Goldwein asserted . `` The public , I do n't think , is going to be able to tolerate the level of cuts in Congressman Ryan 's plan , even though the level of deficit reduction is only a little bit more than what we need . '' Neither , Goldwein said , would the public tolerate a federal spending plan that cuts the deficit solely by raising taxes . So nearly everyone in Washington admits that it would require compromise , but few admit that even a tough-to-get compromise most likely will just stabilize the budget , not balance it . Follow Lisa on Twitter at @ LisaDCNN .
NEW : House approves Ryan 2013 budget , 228-191 , will send to Senate . Expert who looked at numbers said it now may be impossible to balance the budget . Huge cuts and significant taxes would be required to dig out of deficit hole .