Chicken Little was in the woods one day when an acorn fell on her head. It scared her so much she trembled all over. She shook so hard, half her feathers fell out. "Help! Help! The sky is falling! I have to go tell the king!"

The national debt really doesn't matter. The entire issue here is the existence of a "debt ceiling", which does matter — but only because it exists. It's artificial. What purpose does it serve other than as a stick with which to beat political foes in hopes to achieve legislative and election goals? Is the ceiling a planning tool? If so, it's proved to be the world's least effective.