14 Trillion Dollars—14 plus 12 zeros Do we know what this means?

Currently our national debt is approaching 14 Trillion Dollars. Do any of us really know how much money this is? $14,000,000,000,000.00 This is an amount of money that escapes the ability to put into reality. Yet we really do not seem to mind. Until recently not many people were even concerned about it. Two years ago the majority of people were behind the bailouts and did not relate the dramatic impact that event would have on our economy. So it got voted through. But let’s look at what this can mean.
The Chairman of the FDIC, Shelia Bair, in an article posted on CNN Money.com dated 11/26/10 was quoted as follows: "If investors were to similarly lose confidence in U.S. public debt, we could expect high and volatile interest rates to impose losses on financial institutions that hold Treasury instruments," she wrote. "All of us would pay more for consumer and business credit, and our economy would suffer."
Personally, when we go to obtain a loan to buy a house one of the biggest factors that is looked at after your credit score is debt to income ratio. In other words, if you get the house, what percent of your overall budget will be in the payment of debt as compared to buying groceries, gas, medical, school, etc. Most lenders will not approve a home loan if your debt to income ratio is higher than 42%. And as I am sure you are aware, this is the upper limit of financial stability. It should be less.
According to an article, “U.S. Long Term Debt Situation is One of the World’s Worst”, 7/27/10 by Nicola Moore, published on www.Heritage.org the U.S. percentage of its budget attributed to long term debt will be 62%. This is astonishing. This is 20% higher than what our government has established as the limit on its citizens to buy a home. Yet that very government, once again, allows itself to break the rules and not be accountable for itself. This is the core problem. This leaves only 38% of our total income as a country to pay our employees, provide needed services, and otherwise operate our country. In other words, if the U.S. government was to apply for a simple home loan, no bank in the country would approve them yet they keep spending.
As we contemplate our future, our government must address spending and make some hard choices. We cannot keep spending money without regard to where the money will come from. Not only will this effectively bankrupt our country, but it will cause the relative value of our financial instruments to fall as to other countries and this makes us a weak country. We cannot survive in this global economy in this situation. Now I realize that other countries all over the world face similar issues but that begs the question. I live here. I am a U.S. citizen. So I am worried about the United States of America. Therefore, this issue needs to be the overriding issue addressed by our current Congress. Republican or Democrat, I do not care. We have to fix ourselves and be accountable. Until then, we are a failing concern.