And it’s not something good! We all know the figures, but what are the ramifications, and how likely is it that that scenario will play out?

The Founding Fathers left one legacy not celebrated on Independence Day but which affects us all. It’s the national debt. The country first got into debt to help pay for the Revolutionary War. Growing ever since, the debt stands today at a staggering $11.5 trillion — equivalent to over $37,000 for each and every American. And it’s expanding by over $1 trillion a year.

The mountain of debt easily could become the next full-fledged economic crisis without firm action from Washington, economists of all stripes warn.”Unless we demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal sustainability in the longer term, we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently told Congress.

Interest payments on the debt alone cost $452 billion last year — the largest federal spending category after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense. It’s quickly crowding out all other government spending. And the Treasury is finding it harder to find new lenders.

The United States went into the red the first time in 1790 when it assumed $75 million in the war debts of the Continental Congress. Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury secretary, said, “A national debt, if not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.”

The overall debt is now slightly over 80 percent of the annual output of the entire U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product. By historical standards, it’s not proportionately as high as during World War II, when it briefly rose to 120 percent of GDP. But it’s still a huge liability

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, established by a former commerce secretary and investment banker, argues that the $11.4 trillion debt figures does not take into account roughly $45 trillion in unlisted liabilities and unfunded retirement and health care commitments.

That would put the nation’s full obligations at $56 trillion, or roughly $184,000 per American.

So, who is ready to write Uncle Sam another check?! I wouldn’t feel so bad if I actually felt like the government was providing a service with our tax dollars. This is not what Hamilton and Washington had in mind…