National Debt

So, I'm reading the assignment for my Marriage and Family class, and the section about debt reminds me of a Saturday Night Live skit. I know, some people think putting the two together is a sin nigh unto murder--okay, I exaggerate. But here's my point: this economy is not bad because we're in a war; it's not bad because, according to some people, Obama is the Antichrist; it's not bad because those darn liberals or those darn conservatives are screwing everything up (or maybe it's those darn moderates). While these may be contributing factors, the real issue is this: we're spending more than we earn. We're borrowing money from China, for crying out loud. China, which, awesome as it is in some ways, is selling us lead-laced kids' toys and toxic drywall. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's a conspiracy to take over the world. Maybe it's because we buy it, therefore they don't see a reason to up their standards. Also, we owe them so much money; they've got it hanging over our heads. That can't be good for independent trading, let alone diplomacy or our economy.
So, what should we do about this government debt? I don't know what we can do to decrease it quickly, aside from raising taxes and cutting spending astronomically. And you know people won't like that one bit. In the papers, you hear about all these people who are affected by changes or lack of changes in health care. These heart-wrenching, frustrating stories about people who slip through the cracks and fall through the loopholes, having medical issues sap their lives away, and costing the government more than if they would have been covered for non-transplant-rejection pills instead of another organ transplant. Anyone who reads these articles cannot deny that the government is inefficient, at least in health care if not in other areas.
But we cannot take out our frustrations by laying bitter and vicious blame on the president, or our senators, or anyone else. I repeat, we cannot pin all the blame on our elected officials. We need to get involved and write our senators, and do research and vote. But more importantly, we need to focus on our own spending habits first. As the scripture says, "First pluck the mote out of thine own eye; then thou canst see clearly to remove the beam in thy neighbors' eye."
Thus we come full circle to my point, illustrated in the video clip: don't spend money that you do not have.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/1389/saturday-night-live-dont-buy-stuff
Also useful is the article that got me thinking about it in the first place.
http://institute.lds.org/manuals/eternal-marriage-student-manual/d-e-debt-2.asp