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Last year, Washington’s total interest payments to service the national debt was just under $225 billion. At the same time, the federal government pulled in nearly $3.2 trillion in total revenues last year. So the federal government’s debt obligations represented just 7% of its income last year, down from 17% in 1995.

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#2) Even if government finances were like a family’s checkbook, things aren’t at a boiling point — yet.

time.com/money/4293910/national-debt-investors/

At the very least, you probably want your elected representatives in Washington to spend within their means, like any family must.

Most critics of the debt cite the fact that at $19 trillion, the national debt represents about 102% of the U.S. gross domestic product, the sum total of all the economic activity in this country each year. Sounds scary. But the health of a family’s finances aren’t measured this way.

For example, the average U.S. household has outstanding mortgage debt of more than $168,000. Average household incomes, meanwhile, are just below $55,000. That means the typical household’s debt-to-“personal GDP” ratio would be more than 300%.

What matters to families isn’t their total debt; it’s their ability to service those obligations.

Typically, families seeking a mortgage would have to show banks that their debt payment obligations (housing costs, car loan payments, student loan bills, credit card payments, etc.) represent less than 36% of their gross income.

Last year, Washington’s total interest payments to service the national debt was just under $225 billion. At the same time, the federal government pulled in nearly $3.2 trillion in total revenues last year. So the federal government’s debt obligations represented just 7% of its income last year, down from 17% in 1995.

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