Any politician who uses the phrase “We need to do X to help pay down the debt” is a liar and thinks you’re stuipd and/or ignorant. [See: President Obama]
Nobody is remotely calling for anyone to “pay down” the existing debt. At most, we are talking about slowing the growth of new debt. Only someone who is totally delusional thinks we will ever repay the existing debt. It’s just not remotely plausible.
As QE1 and QE2 educated people, the Federal Reserve’s ability to create “money” is based on the ability of the US Government to incur more debt and sell the bonds to the Federal Reserve (or the public). If by some miracle, the US suddenly was able to pay off the existing debt, it could cause a massive implosion of the global economy as the supply of dollars dried up.
This is not a Democratic/Republican issue. It’s something all of the people in Washingon say. It’s a Federal Government “thing”.