Here’s a sobering fact to close out the week: the size of the U.S. debt burden now outpaces the size of the U.S. economy.

According to the U.S. Treasury, at the end of 2011 the national debt stood at $15.223 trillion. Numbers released today from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show the total size of the U.S. economy at the end of 2011 was $15.088 trillion.

If this news is not startling enough, while our debt is skyrocketing, U.S. economic growth is still sputtering. In the same report, the BEA revealed the nation’s economy grew by only 1.8 percent in the third quarter of last year. Those are final number for that quarter’s growth; the BEA also reported preliminary numbers for the fourth quarter, which showed the economy grew 2.8 percent during that three-month period. CBS notes that is lower than most economists were predicting.

While the economy is – at best – showing modest signs of growth, it’s full steam ahead for the national debt. Yesterday, the Senate voted to allow President Obama’s requested $1.2 trillion debt limit increase to go into effect.

What else needs to happen before lawmakers get serious about cutting spending?BA