Kris Mitchener, professor of economics: "It is easier to finance by borrowing than to burden the population with taxes" * Michael Peterson, president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation: "The problem is how debt is used and how much it is used; unfortunately, we use it on both rainy and sunny days".The US national debt is approaching $33 trillion, with every year since 2001 the US government has spent more than it has taken in, so it has had to borrow money to make up the difference, according to CNBC.