Everyone should find something they like in here: http://www.businessinsider.com/poli...t-will-probably-take-us-30-years-to-get-out-1
30 years to fix the economy, eh? In 30 years, our debt to GDP will be 400%. We got all the time in the world....
Illogical, if we're working on fixing the economy (and succeeding, which we can do, as we're Americans) then that ratio would be improving. Anyway, to borrow an idea: What if a new patriotic fad swept the country in which American households tore up their bonds and relieved their government of its debt obligations? <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Holders_of_the_National_Debt_of_the_United_States.gif">
Why would I do that? It's no different than me giving a million dollars to my eleven year old daughter and expecting her to behave responsibly with it. Same is true of government. If I were to tear up a million dollars worth of government bonds, our policiticans would see that as a reason to go out and spend an additional million dollars. The debt wouldn't go down because spending/borrowing would go up to consume that million dollars.
Ah, the soylent green angle? I like it.... (btw....most of those "intragovernment holdings" are pension funds for Guv employees and the SS Trust Fund. Screw them! Technically, it's doable. Interesting, the CIA quotes US debt-to-GDP at ~70% (I suspect they deduct the SS Trust fund from Gov obligations.....do they know something we don't?!)). There's a poetic justice to it all, I admit. The Boomers basically destroyed this country. Now it's time for a little payback?
Being realistic is decidedly American. There's no reason to believe that profligate politicians of both parties will do anything other than what they've been doing.
Actually, being unrealistic, i.e. dreaming, is American. But without optimism, dreams die and handwringing takes their place. We can do it and we will do it, failure is not an option. Yankee ingenuity for the win.