While the national debate regarding the debt limit increase has passed, and the nation has avoided what many politicians gleefully referred to as economic collapse, it's important for all Americans to recognize the true nature of our borrow and spend philosophy and the addiction to the same. The debt limit was merely a distraction from the real issue at hand:  Spending. 

Let's forget, for a moment, the political euphoria that comes with a credit card limit that has been increased by $2.1 trillion.  Instead, let's concentrate on just what it means to be borrowing $4 Billion each and every day.  The US government BORROWS $4,100,000,000 each and every day-regardless of the "smoke and mirror" cuts that were promised in exchange for the debt limit increase.  Keep in mind that this figure is not what we SPEND, but what we BORROW.  To keep it simple:   $4.1B is the amount it takes to make up for the difference between what we take in and what we spend!

Let's take it another step and bring this $4.1B figure to something we can all understand and equate to:  According to the National Association of Realtors, the median price of a home sold in the Western US during the July period was $240,400.  Using this figure, the United States government borrows an amount each day that is equivalent to the purchase of 16,064 of these homes. 

If this doesn't get the attention of every American, then what will?

We don't have an income problem (read a balanced approach for revenues as the President puts it).  We have an addiction to spending and unless and until saner heads step up to the table, no amount of debt limit increases will satisfy the insatiable need of money for the monster we call the US government!  Welcome to the new America, where patriotism and fiscal sanity are traits that will earn you the moniker of terrorist.