In your opinion, how should the US government deal with its rising national debt and associated interest payments?

Raise taxes (18%) – "It may be a death sentence to those who pass it, but the US has a revenue problem. The most expedient way is to raise taxes, or more specifically, close certain loopholes that people of means can exploit to avoid hefty tax bills. An influx of revenue from high earners and businesses could help cure the shortfall."

• "Raise taxes on individuals and couples making $1M+, close corporate tax loopholes and enforce a real minimum tax so highly profitable corporations can’t pay little or no federal income tax, roll back tax cuts benefiting the wealthy, tax capital gains more like earned income at very high incomes, close inheritance/estate-tax loopholes, and increase taxes on enormous university endowments and other extremely wealthy tax-exempt institutions, including churches, ."

Cut spending (36%) – "The amount of waste in our government is unconscionable. Trump promised us to be more fiscally conservative, but he lied. Biden wasted so much money as well. We need to cut off special interest groups, tighten our budget, and do what every person in the world has to do. Spend less than you make."

• "No government has a revenue problem. Every government has a spending problem. There is far too much government bloat and waste, we could probably get rid of 80% of government employees and everyone would be better off."

"A simple part of a budget is to spend less than you make. If we are expected to do so, our government should as well. I would love to see our defense budget lowered with more attention on how it is spent and a transition to a universal healthcare, as estimates show that would likely cost less overall. However, cuts would likely come from places that are already hurting, like education."

• "A simple part of a budget is to spend less than you make. If we are expected to do so, our government should as well. I would love to see our defense budget lowered with more attention on how it is spent and a transition to a universal healthcare, as estimates show that would likely cost less overall. However, cuts would likely come from places that are already hurting, like education."

Print more bonds/money (2%) – "We need to keep up our credit rating and make payments in the short term. But a longer term solution needs to include some other plan, too."

Some combination of the above (35%) – "The politicians don't want to raise taxes, constituents don't want a reduction in public benefits so there has to be a blend. Being more fiscally responsible seems to not be in our government's abilities."

• "The economy is complex, and no complex issue can be solved by a simple answer. The tax cuts are nice, but the deficit grows. The war in Iran is costly and without a real purpose, and the deficit grows. Social Security is running out of funding, and the deficit grows. The last time Congress passed a full budget was in 1996. Instead, Congress has used continuing resolutions, which allow it to avoid seeing the full impact of its spending. I don't know about everyone else, but I am beyond worried about how the federal government is run and its future impact on my grandchildren."

"Over borrowing is the pitfall of many Americans, and they eventually must take drastic measures to get out of debt. This includes working extra jobs to make extra money, and cutting all unnecessary spending. The U.S. government has done exactly the opposite: spending without limit, giving extreme tax cuts to those who don't need or deserve it, and continuing to balloon our debt out of control. The last president to submit a balanced budget was Bill Clinton, and that was in the '90s! If I have to pay my bills, the government should as well. They are borrowing against the future of our children and must be stopped."

• "We've answered this exact poll question before, and my answer has not changed: we need to raise taxes and cut spending. Do NOT print more money, wow; we've seen what happens when we do that: inflation, rampant. Anyway, the point is that as a nation, we need to recognize that the cliff is coming and sheering to the side is the only way to avoid disaster. And the sheering will hurt; raising taxes and cutting spending will be painful. But that would be less painful than plunging off the cliff. Unfortunately, since we all vote in our own interest and people generally use a short-term view, we're going to plunge off the cliff."

Nothing needs to be done (4%) – "We haven't had much issue with our national debt so far. It seems we have more pressing issues as a nation."

Unsure/other (5%) – "Give a pay-the-debt tax-relief plan for those who pay now to get tax cuts in future years for the amount of debt they paid down today. It would encourage people to lessen their own debt burden, as well as lessen the government tax burden, by the principal today and the interest in the future. It would also allow for government to know precisely how much they will not have coming into the national treasury to pay down future spending. A major problem with government "extreme measures" is that the people wanting to use National Parks and other government attractions are suddenly denied entry or having to endure difficult TSA lines after planning many months ahead to travel. They are penalized while Congressional bloated offices' employees keep getting paid. The Senate bill to forestall payment of Congress if they do not pass a spending bill is a small start."