For every dollar in debt that Americans have paid off since they started cleansing their balance sheets in mid-2008, the U.S. government has borrowed more than $7. All the hard work by consumers to replenish their piggy banks may be for naught if big government budget deficits play havoc with the economy.

Last week's federal budget didn't provide much solace. The Obama administration projected that the federal debt could double over the next decade, prompting Moody's Investors Service to warn that the pristine AAA credit...