The national debt has officially passed the $9 trillion mark [1], according to several news stories today (although if the Bureau of the Public Debt calculator [2] is right, we passed this mark a couple months ago). But this is a disturbing [2] number by itself, even before you consider the huge liabilities the government is facing [2] in the future.

It's easy to rant, but this sounds like a better moment to bring up a couple of hopeful points:

• First, the latest report [3] from our Facing Up to the Nation's Finances sessions in Tennessee [3] proves how realistic and practical the public can be on this issue, provided you give them a chance.
• And secondly, the public needs options to grapple with this effectively. Experts and policymakers often complain that the public doesn't understand the issues. But those same experts rarely take the time to lay out the alternatives and explain them. That's what the Choicework discussion guides on FacingUp.org [3] are designed to do: set out some of the alternatives honestly, with all the advantages, disadvantages and tradeoffs clearly stated. They're a great starting point for discussion -- and we need to start talking about these problems if we're going to have any chance of solving them.