Sierra, just to be clear, and so we're using the correct terminology, this graph represents the annual budget deficit trend over several years. In your post in the photos section, you have it labeled as the debt trend. Two totally different animals.

The annual deficit spending - which adds to the national debt each year - has been decreasing as a percentage of GDP since the huge TARP payouts in 2009 and 2010 and subsequent repayments. The national debt, however, even as a percentage of GDP, is still heading steadily upwards as a result of deficit spending, and is close to the New Deal/WWII level that represents the high water mark of the country's modern debt history.

We have made the effort to pay down our national debt in only 4 of the last 40-plus years, and have depended on GDP outpacing debt to provide almost all of the relief seen in these lovely graphs that are so popular. Call me a pessimist (I prefer realist), but I have little to no confidence that we can reel off another 30-year run of economic prosperity (a la 1949-1979) to hammer the debt ratio down to manageable levels.

Your point is well taken though. The only hope we have of keeping our heads above water is to ensure the economy continues to grow and unemployment continues to decline. Balancing the annual budget would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath. The scary thing to me is that we are currently in a very tenuous position: we are almost at historic highs for debt-to-GDP while nursing along a fragile recovery in a shaken-up, battered world. Another poorly-timed terrorist event or economic bubble bursting could plunge us over into debt territory we've never imagined.

And, on topic, I'd certainly be willing to pay more to enjoy the national parks and forests if necessary to keep them maintained and staffed properly. It costs upwards of $300 for a family of four to spend a day in one of the country's big theme parks (some places, a lot more). There's not a Disney, Universal, or MGM that can hold a candle to Yosemite, the Rocky Mountains, or the Grand Canyon.