By whom?
Show me a single poll which shows that Americans are calling for "cutting the federal government's budget."
One. Show me one.
polls are no more than meaningless sets of random numbers. The debt is actually good!
To understand this, start by imagining a world in which there is no government and no foreign countries. All economic activity in the US would take place domestically and be carried out by our private sector firms and households. As a group, they would earn what they spent. If all American firms and households spent $1000, then–because one of them was standing on the other side of the cash register for each of these transactions–American firms and households would earn $1000. It is logically impossible for them, as a group (though not as individuals), to spend more or less than what they earned–the values must be identical because it’s really double-entry bookkeeping. Every transaction that takes place is both spending (for the person buying something) and income (for the person selling something).
Now create a government. It is only at this point that it becomes possible for one sector (private or government) to spend more than they earned or earn more than they spent. For example, say over its first year in existence, the government takes in $100 in tax revenues but doesn’t spend any of it. You might have something like this:
income Private Government Total
$1000 $100 $1100
spending $1100 $0 $1100
Balance -$100 +$100 $0
In this case, the private sector spent $1000 on the goods and services it created (which is what created the $1000 in income for them), plus they spent $100 for taxes. The government, meanwhile, earned $100 in income (via taxes), but spent nothing. The government budget is thus is surplus, while the private sector has gone into debt–by the exact same amount, of course. It is impossible for it to work out any other way. The balances must add to zero because, as the last column indicates, total spending must equal total income in a closed system. And with the government in surplus, the private sector goes into debt.
