Trillion. WIth a "T"

According to an article on The Drudge Report, courtesy of Yahoo News, the United States budget deficit for the recently ended fiscal year reached $1.3 trillion. The current fiscal year, which started October 1, is projected to be $1.4 trillion in the red. It has been 10 years since the country had a balanced budget, with no repeat in the foreseeable future. I am curious what the governments plan is for sustainability when the total debt is over $13.5 trillion according to usdebtclock.org, that is nearly $44,000 per citizen or $122,000 per taxpayer. That means my personal share of the national debt is worth almost as much as my house. Politicians from both parties are out of control with spending. According to the author, both parties claim the high deficit is a problem, however neither are doing anything about it. Democrats are blaming it on an inherited problem, yet still voting for big spending, and Republicans are trying to solve it with spending cuts only, and strictly opposed to any tax increase. Although the thought of paying any more in taxes than I already do sounds about as appealing as a root canal, I am not sure the budget can be balanced by cutting spending alone, when was the last time the federal budget actually decreased? I would guess the last time there was any substantial decrease in government spending would be in the years following WWII, but it was probably still a substantial increase to the pre war period. Everyone knows if you as a person consistently spend more than you make, year after year, your finances will collapse in short order. For some reason our representatives think that if we collectively spend more than we make, year after year, we can continue on and not be concerned about the consequences. I would like to think that in 2012 the number one issue leading into the election will be how to deal with the deficit, but raising taxes and cutting government spending don’t get as many votes as promising the world, so I am skeptical.