electricity. the question is whether we can afford it. there really hasn t been a serious conversation about the nation s debt and deficit since the so-called simpson bolles commission created by president obama to identify, quote, policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long one. that failed to gain traction back in 2010. but it doesn t mean that the issue has gone away. our national debt is currently $28.8 trillion. that s over $86,000 for every single person in america. from our first president, george washington, until our 42nd, bill clinton, a span of 211 years, the united states accumulated $5 trillion of national debt. during the administration of president george w. bush, the national debt grew from $5 trillion to $11 trillion. then under president barack obama, the national debt jumped from $11 trillion to $20 trillion. and in the one term of president