This is one of the best explanations we’ve seen about the country’s financial woes. First, the real numbers for 2011 (2010 numbers in parenthesis): 
 
   

U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000 (2,381,000,000,000)

Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000           (3,552,000,000,000) that’s right we spent more being austere

New debt: $1,650,000,000,000               (1,171,000,000,000)

National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000

Now, let’s remove eight zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:

Annual family income: $21,700

Money the family spent: $38,200

New debt on the credit card: $16,500

Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

Total budget cuts: $385