As long as everyone here seems to like to do a bit of reading I'd strongly suggest you take a gander at this document from our GAO.
http://www.gao.gov/financial/citizensguide2008.pdf
This report was prepared before our crisis developed and the crazy Trillion dollar bailout. Folks, we in the US are marching on a course for a total financial system collapse.
We are rapidly approaching a point where we will not be able to pay the interest on our debt. Soon, we will all get a good dose of what living in a third world country is like. Simply put, we can't afford these bailouts no matter how bad our economy will suffer in the short term. We were headed for this disaster even before the current financial crisis hit but we still had a chance to do something about it. Spending trillions on an ailing economy with no hope of recovery is just greasing the skids. We will simply hit the wall faster than ever.
You want socialized medicine, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, a strong military, jobs, ample and clean energy, economic growth? We can't get there by continuing to spending money we don't have. We are a nation that has fallen in love with the concept of living beyond our means and spending our children's and grandchildren's future to get it.
This is like giving credit cards and whiskey to a teenager. Sooner or later it will catch up to us and it will be a very painful experience.
Time for our elected officials to pay attention and get fiscal responsibility.