Shutdown drama avoids the REAL problem: obscene national debt

As Washington stumbles through yet another government shutdown , we’re hearing the usual chorus of panic: Headlines warn of catastrophe and politicians point fingers.

But in reality, shutdowns are just noisy political theater.

They rarely cut government spending , they don’t rein in the debt, and they don’t force lawmakers to make the tough choices our nation desperately needs.

All they accomplish is distraction — masking the far greater debt crisis Congress is refusing to address.

The United States’ publicly held debt , meaning the money Washington has borrowed from credit markets, exceeds $30 trillion — almost the size of the entire US economy and continuing to grow.

That’s more than $230,000 per household, the amount of a mortgage with no house to show for it.

Interest payme