To whom does the U.S. actually owe its $17 trillion debt?

In anticipation of the debt ceiling fight in Congress, NPR created the below graph to illustrate to whom the U.S. government owes its massive $17 trillion debt.

Business Insider added the following observations:

1. We owe most of the money to ourselves.
2. We owe a big chunk of the money — about $5 trillion — to the Federal government. So if there ever were a default (hopefully there won’t be) the government would also be stiffing itself.
3. We owe about $5 trillion to other countries, including China.
4. The total debt to China is $1.3 trillion. So we’re not in hock to China as much as some people think we are.
5. Yes, it’s a boatload of debt. But the experience of Japan, the U.S. after World War 2, and other countries, suggests that it’s a manageable amount, as long as we eventually get our long-term entitlement spending under control.

The question is, are there enough individuals in Washington who have the courage to take on entitlement reform?

The president has proven time and time again that he would rather shut down White House tours and make other symbolic cuts, rather than making any serious efforts to rein in entitlement spending. And frankly, neither Party has shown much interest in touching pet programs that appeal to their constituencies — no matter how bloated they have become.

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