Commentary

Compared to federal spending, the average American is downright frugal.

The federal debt is now at $40 trillion, doubled from 10 years ago. If you add up all the credit card debt, car and truck loans and home mortgages held by Americans, excluding commercial properties, you don’t even get to half of the $40 trillion the federal government owes lenders.

It’s hard to think of Americans as thrifty when the average credit card debt is about $6,600 — but compared to the president and Congress, most anyone can look like a responsible spender.

That $40 trillion, divided by 350 million Americans, come...