Will America choose the path to prosperity -- or ruin?

U. S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) illustrates the United States's current headlong rush into a debt crisis in which the national debt would be three times the national economy.

Imagine if you had credit card debts of $150,000 with a $50,000 a year income. You wouldn't be able to afford the interest on that kind of debt, much less paying it off. That's where we're headed if we continue to defer hard decisions on spending.

To those who would complain about the Republican preference to cut spending rather than raise taxes: What percent of the nation's economy should pass through the Federal government? Republicans are aiming to get that number back down to 20%. That still seems too high to me.