Almost a third of our debt is government IOUs to other agencies.
Of the remaining public portion, China owns 13%; the majority is held in the U.S. That reduces the potential impact of foreign investors' dumping bonds and driving up rates -- an unlikely scenario anyway, says Yale's Robert Shiller, since Treasuries are still viewed as safe.
Democrats and Republicans are arguing fiercely over the proper size of the government. Money magazine looks at the facts -- how much we're spending and what we're spending it on.
