8. Debt Reduction

From http://www.the99declaration.org/debt_reduction

"Adoption of a plan to reduce the national debt to a sustainable percentage of GDP by 2020. Reduction of the $15 trillion national debt to be achieved by BOTH fair progressive taxation and cuts in spending that benefit corporations engaged in perpetual war for profit, inefficient health care, pharmaceutical exploitation, over-prescribing medications for profit, monopolization of the media by a small group of corporations, the prison and military industrial complexes, criminal banking, securities and financial schemes, the oil and gas industry, and all other corrupt monopolies, entities and individuals that have used the federal budget as a private income stream for decades.  Corporate bribery of politicians can no longer be deemed a cost of doing business paid for a lucrative “return on investment.”  This abhorrent and brazen “pay to play” racket run by Congress, corporations and the top income earners, puts greed ahead of People, resulted in a $15 trillion national debt and an unprecedented downgrade of our sovereign credit rating."

This is one of those areas that I'm admittedly weak in. Some or all of this may be flat-out wrong. I know that Rodger Malcolm Mitchell (over on the99declaration discussion) is going to take exception to everything I'm about to say. Yet I plug on.

From what I can tell, the national debt is comprised of Treasury securities. There are four types, but they all seem to operate like an interest-bearing bank account. The interest is calculated different ways for each. So when someone buys a bond (for instance), they are contributing to the national debt.
This isn't a bad thing. When an American invests in treasuries, they are adding to their feeling of wealth, which could help stimulate the economy. The wealthier one feels, the more likely they are to spend on goods or invest in business.
The downside is that at some point, the government is going to have to pay that money back. If it has to sell another bond in order to do it, it's like paying off a credit card with a credit card. Your obligation is fulfilled to one party, but you have a bigger obligation to someone else.
Almost half of the debt is owned by foreign investors. This is where debt no longer helps our economy. It's nice (and probably necessary) to have an influx of foreign money, but there are no "feeling of wealth" benefits, and at some point someone's going to want to collect. If we have to take money from the American economy to pay debts owed to another country, it's going to hurt.

It seems to be that the main debate over whether to raise taxes or cut the budget to deal with the debt is missing the point. We can be in all the debt we want -- as long as we can pay it back. The more treasuries Americans own, the wealthier they feel. The more foreign countries and investors buy treasuries, the more we have on-hand in the economy. So, I think that the bigger issue is managing the debt in a more responsible way, and ensuring that it can be paid if someone comes to collect it without completely destroying the economy.
If we can make sure that we're at that point,  we can accrue all the debt we like.