Thanks Kobi....I appreciate you pointing out that neither China or Japan want our economy to fail when they depend on it. Very true.
Also, people forget that the "national debt" is the sum of the Treasury bills that are issued. Essentially, we've written an IOU and promise to pay with interest. The
vast majority of Treasury bills are owned by U.S. citizens and our own Social Security Trust Fund. So, essentially, the bulk of our debt is in our own hands.
Having said that, I'm not comfortable with us having this much debt. It's simply bad policy...much like an individual living off their credit card. At some point, there's a reckoning, and the amount spent on interest could have been better used on other things.
However, the Republican/Tea Party spin on the national debt is all about fear mongering.....big surprise, right?
Look
here if you want to see the breakdown.