[anders_p]

Republicans haven't really cared about paying off the debts since before Regan. (Except for when they're not in power).

So it wasn't actually the norm when Clinton tried to make a dent in the foreign debts of the US.

Modern economic theory says that there's a big difference between normal household finances and national economics.

Countries don't reach retirement age, they get new taxpayers every year. (Either through births or immigration).

So there's essentially no limit to how many times they can roll the debts over via issuing new state-backed bonds, except for how the market views the country's future prospects.

That's the theory, at least.