Here’s a super simplified explanation of why the country can’t afford to not make big spending cuts (via Jazz Shaw):

U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s now remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:

Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Total budget cuts so far: $385.00

http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2012/12/31/...et-for-dummies/

What were they thinking? How did we get in this financial mess?