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Jerry, "..governments are spending at an unsustainable rate...we know our personal budgets don’t operate this way." Do you have a mortgage? Are you still paying off an educational loan? Did you finance your new car? boat? Do you have a home equity loan? Are you carrying a significant balance on your credit cards? Financed your daughter's wedding or her education? Don't feel bad. Most Americans are in the same boat you are. Alexander Hamilton proposed to the U.S. Congress that our country should function based upon future revenue and expectations of growth. The Government budget is based on estimates and projections not on actual debt, expenditures or revenues. That's right,it's patriotic to be in debt. It is what our founding father's intended. Debt is what makes us strong. We are all indentured servants and the debt we carry ensures we will work and be productive. Think of all the jobs required to manage our personal debt. It is our productivity that allows us to be the greatest consumers on the planet. Our need for goods and services is what makes our country such a good investment and strong. The Congress uses our Social Security premiums as collateral to fight wars and pay down the debt. If we paid for everything in cash and only when we could afford to pay the whole amount down, we would be happy, we would feel we won the lottery and stop working. That's why the citizens of some nations are willing to pay 50% of their income for social benefits. They would rather be content then have material wealth. Debt has value and is not a bad thing. It represents leverage and is motivational. Debt is how we buy products. Debt is how banks make their money. Debt is how a business starts up. Debt is what makes jobs. The government forgives your debt when you go bankrupt. It wants you back on the debtors roles so that you become productive again and pay your taxes. That's why employers hate social security and employer contributions to good retirement plans. Old and sick people do not contribute to the wealth of those who hire us,they just live and consume little. Even the top 2% maintain debt. The difference between them and the rest of us is that they don't have to pay the same revenue propotionally that we do. That's because they have convinced us that the more money they make, the more money they have to hire us. So we give them a break. The truth is that when they invest in new developments or a business they too acquire debt. Rarely do they use their own money as the cash coud not be used to reduce the revenues they must pay on their profits. That would be idiotic and non-productive. Dick Chaney tried to explain this whole system but the Democrats wouldn't listen to him. Now the Republicans are using our debt to claim the Democrats are sending us to the poor house. The truth is borrowning money makes us stronger, not weaker. It's the American way and for most of us, our house is owned by the bank.