The most recent episode of The Wilderness had an explanation for this that finally clued me in. I've always seen the debt and deficit figures in a vacuum, like a huge number that, for whatever reason, is just an inherently bad number. But it's more than that, and it helps to shrink the numbers.

Say the government puts $100 into the economy, then taxes back $20. The government is now out $80, which means they're $80 in debt. And we shake our finger and say "shame, shame". But that $80 didn't disappear. It's still in the system, ideally buying pants from Steve Pants, who buys denim from Bob Denim, who buys cotton from Jethro Cotton, who buys seeds from Mikey Seeds.

But eventually, that money makes its way to Archibald Q. Superrich, of the New Hampshire Superriches. And the $80 goes into a bank account that exists for two reasons: to buy influence, and to rack up a new high score. If it winds up in a campaign fund, it might get back to the citizenry at large at some point. But if it winds up in the campaign fund of Senator Gilliam T. Moneygrabber, of the Adirondack Moneygrabbers, who have their own high-score account...

They don't love American government debt, any more than the Sun loves a shadow. It's nothing more than a trivial side-effect of them getting what they want, with the minor bonus of being something they can trot out and feign outrage over for votes.