[SideburnsOfDoom]

Public debt is not like household debt.

This is a mistake that people often make, and politicians usually encourage when they want to score points and raise scares about the other team's polices. Take note of if they change their tune when in power; or just stop scaring people, while running up more debts via different expenditures or other tax breaks.

But it's not the same kind of thing at all. It's not "like that, only on a larger scale", it is fundamentally unlike that. And the faulty assumption will lead you to faulty conclusions.

NB with the other commenter said: "most of the debt is held within the US borders". How would household debt look if most of the debt is owed to other members of the household and not to banks? How would it look if the household could control the money supply, like a bank.

Of course it's possible to get public debt wrong, but don't assume that getting it wrong looks anything like getting personal debt wrong. With personal debt "smaller is better, larger is worse, simple". But e.g. Eliminating public debt entirely would itself be a mistake, given that it is debt to people or companies in the same country, often in exchange for services. It can fuel growth if used with intent.