16 Trillion US dollars

I was upset when we, the United States, crossed $2 trillion in debt. It felt wrong twice over. The nation is now at $16 trillion. We continue adding to that debt as you read this.

I've found a clean, easy to read excerpt from Bob Woodward's book,

Inside story of Obama’s struggle to keep Congress from controlling outcome of debt ceiling crisis

Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist, ... I don't care what your political bent is, you need to read this. It wont take all that long, but I did have trouble breathing while reading it. You've been warned. Pedantic comments aside, seriously. Read it.

The debt now fundamentally (not just theoretically) breaks the checks and balances the country was formed upon.

The scary thought I'm trying to talk myself out of is that it may not matter who is elected. There maybe no vested interest by any key politician to reduce the debt.