What's the deal with the United States Economy and Debt?

When does the debt reach a point where it must be paid? Why can’t the United States just get a clean slate? How will all this debt effectively affect the future? Why doesn’t the government make drastic changes to help stimulate business in the United States to cut down on exports? Is the government really doing anything to fix this? for example they're all in peoples @$$'s about drugs and getting involved with sports and arguing amongst the parties about who's right who's wrong with their napoleon complex, can't they put their power bickering in the back burner for a while and help the people out?