Bost1,
You need to understand what that debt is all about.  All governments have both long term debts and current debts just the same as individuals have.  Individuals have the day to day expenses which they pay off with their monthly pay cheque.  They also have long term debts such as home mortgage/car loans which they pay off over time.  Government is exactly the same. They cannot pay for a multi million project in one shot with only current monthly income.  The amount of long term debt that an individual or a government can handle without problem is dependent upon its projected income.  The mortgage amount you can finance for your house is an example.  The people who tell you how bad a gov't. is for having this $68 billion debt either have no understanding  or are trying to make you believe it is much worse than it in fact is.