Debt, deficit, at this point what difference does it make?

politicians cant face it

I find it disconcerting how easily politicians and the media interchange "deficit" and "debt"

The truth is most politicians aren't that smart. They are good at capturing vote and speaking, and are definitely smarter than average, but most are also a face for their managers and team. Ive done a decent amount of research and this debt thing (whether it matters, how much we can take, what should be done) is extremely complicated. We've been in higher debt before and Britain has too, so all isn't lost. An important thing to understand is that for me and you, debt is us having no money and owing some on top of that. It is negative money. We have more than our debt. Every year, we bring in as much money as our whole debt. The problem is not we cant pay it, our politicians just aren't willing to and keep adding more. Bush was Warfare, Obama was Healthcare, and Trump is more defense and tax cuts too. Deficit is amount of "debt" we accrue per year and debt is total owed.

This era was the first time I started to pay attention to the economy...I don't stress about it, but the phrase "reduce the deficit" kind of gets to me. There's a 3 in four chance (or 7 in 8 for two termers) that you reduced your own deficit...year before last my wife spent $200,000 dollars more than we made, last year she only spent $100,000 more than we made. Praise be, she cut our deficit in half! I know it's not that simple, but it does make me laugh. :-)

Just on a side note, Bill Clinton was the best Pres in recent history for our deficit and debt.