This deficit bias is the very reason for the 3%-of-GDP deficit limit. The ongoing debate is the best evidence of how important the 3% ceiling deficit is. I am well aware that in the field of fiscal policy, the US and the euro area have recently started to pursue diverging approaches. One might even be tempted to speak of a “global experiment”.
Policies on both sides of the Atlantic aim at rebuilding confidence, though the paths vary. While you in the US trust fiscal stimulus to actively rouse the economy from its current stupor, euro-area governments are basically trying to stick to the planned fiscal consolidation paths in order not to undermine hard-won confidence in their stability-oriented fiscal policies.