Last week the U.S. government’s debt exceeded the debt ceiling of $8.18 trillion, passing $8.19 trillion as of Thursday, putting the government in technical default. Put in simple terms you and I can understand, the government went over its limit.

The statutory debt ceiling is the maximum amount that the U.S. government can by law borrow in order to pay ongoing expenses.

On Thursday the public debt reached $8,190,567,748,779.48. Public debt, of course, is just a euphemism that means, one way or another, you and I are going to get taken to the cleaners.

“Since the debt ceiling has been raised 50 times over the past 40 years, hoping for some rational debate on the matter would be an extravagant indulgence,” wrote economist Dr. Chris Martenson. “Time spent wishing pigs could fly would offer a far better potential return.”

In other words, the government is spending too much money, and whenever it maxes out its credit line, it just goes and gets more credit. As it stands, the government can barely pay the interest on the national debt. If you and I did that, we’d be called fiscally irresponsible at the least. As those of you who have been deeply in debt know, the last thing you do is go and borrow more money and spend even more money. Instead, it’s time for debt consolidation and some belt tightening.

Stephen VanDyke notes the government’s financial situation is likely to get worse. “Between now and whenever Congress finally notices that the government is in technical default, if the funds from shuffling money out of other investments run dry, it’s very likely the U.S. will move from technical default to active default,” he wrote.

The answer to this, of course, is for the federal governemnt to stop spending trillions on programs that should be run by the states instead, or not exist at all, and stop spending even more trillions trying to regulate our personal lives.