Someone sent this to me – probably the best illustration ever to take something that can be made overly complicated and boil it down to what it really is:

US income – $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget – $3,820,000,000,000
New debt – $1,650,000,000,000
National debt – $14,571,000,000,000
Recent budget cut – $38,500,000,000

Let’s take off 8 zeros and make this the Jones family:

Household income – $21,700
Jones’ spent last year – $38,200
Jones’ added to their credit card debt – $16,500
Total credit card debt of the Jones family – $142,710

After sitting around the kitchen table, grinding for weeks on what to cut from their spending – $385