A Fact Worth Celebrating

There were lots of numbers in the headlines today -- a 225 point sell-off on the Dow Jones Industrials. Jobless claims fell by 15,000 to 320,000 -- the best performance since 2007.

But there is another number that nobody is looking at that trumps 'em all and it’s this: total consumer debt is down and down big -- by 78 trillion dollars last quarter to 11.15 trillion, putting it 12 percent lower than its peak in 2008 and its lowest level in seven years!

That's a fact worth celebrating. We're finally getting a handle on our debt.

But the federal government is going in the opposite direction -- the president wants more of your tax dollars to buy iPads for students. He wants to lend parents more money to buy pricey college educations, the value of which is looking more and more dubious. In a thousand different ways, the government wants to grow and spend.

But we are getting with the program. We're smarter and wiser.

Now if only our federal government could do the same!