One thing to remember about our national debt is that most of it is owed-by AND owned-to our own citizens. That's not to say that I don't have concerns about our fiscal future. The biggest concern I have is how much we owe China & Japan. About 25% of our national debt is owed to other countries. Many of these countries have managed to exploit our so-called "Free trade" agreements by selling us goods but not buying anything back from us. That's why we have a $800 billion per year trade deficit. Frankly, I agree with Warren Buffet when I say that I'm more concerned about our trade deficit than our national debt. Our trade deficit is what made foreign ownership of our debts possible.