February 13, 2019 | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski

🚨 $22,000,000,000,000 🚨

The United States set a big record this week: Our national debt is now over $22 trillion!

It's not, actually, the sort of thing that deserves an exclamation point. Better put: Our national debt is now over $22 trillion :(

We've carried some debt for almost the entirety of our republic, sure. (The one notable exception was in 1835, when President Andrew Jackson paid it off.) But since 2001, the United States has spent MUCH more than it has taken in -- and the national debt has soared.

At the end of 2000, for example, the national debt was $5.6 trillion. Eight years later, it had roughly doubled, to just over $10 trillion. Now? $22 trillion. That makes us the most indebted country in the world. We did it, guys!

There are lots -- and lots -- of reasons for that, including the massive costs associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, then-President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan and the 2017 tax cut under President Donald Trump. And, of course, the massive entitlement programs of Medicare and Social Security for the huge -- and aging -- baby boomer population.

Of late, some politicians have argued that the burgeoning national debt is no big deal -- because the United States can always just print more currency and isn't required to pay it back. In fact, some liberals have dismissed concerns over the potentially multitrillion-dollar cost of the Green New Deal under this very logic. The government's job is to spend money on programs that benefit the populace -- and debt is no big deal.

That's not the majority view, however. The issue with carrying massive national debt is that, in the event of an economic downturn, things can go very badly very quickly. Hyperinflation could kick in. And currency devaluation. Down the road lies nothing good.

For decades, every Republican from Jack Kemp to John McCain to Paul Ryan warned of the dangers of our massive national debt. No one listened -- or at least no one did anything. And now, no one seems to care.

The Point: It's not sexy. It's not easily solved. But a $22 trillion national debt isn't something we can afford -- ahem -- to ignore.

-- Chris

JUST IN: MANAFORT'S PLOT THICKENS

A federal judge says Paul Manafort "intentionally" lied to special counsel Robert Mueller -- thereby voiding the plea deal of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman.

Head to CNN.com for more of this developing story.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"They shouldn't go down this path, they do not have clean hands."

-- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticizing Republican criticism -- and calls to step down -- over Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar's controversial comments about GOP support for Israel.

PEAK GALENTINE'S DAY VIDEO CONTENT

2 women run House committee for 1st time since 1977

The last time two women led a House committee, the year was 1977 and the panel was the Select Committee on the House Beauty Shop.

Forty-two years later, another female duo is in control of a much more high-profile committee: Rep. Nita Lowey and Rep. Kay Granger are heading up the House Appropriations Committee.

CNN's Dana Bash sits down with the pair at the helm of one of the most important committees on Capitol Hill for the latest installment of the "Badass Women of Washington" series. Watch it here!

CHRIS' GOOD READS

Patricia Mazzei went back to Parkland, a year later

How Team Trump just keeps changing its Russia story. Amazing.

Happy Galentine's Day!!!

Apparently, "orbiting" is a thing now in dating

The Ringer ranks the six worst NBA teams

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

Beach Slang doesn't make quiet music. Their new one -- "I Hate Alternative Music" -- is a good example. And it rocks.

INSTA POINT

Today's topic: We have a border security deal! Probably! ... maybe?

SHUTDOWN COUNTDOWN TIMELINE

The current compromise to keep the government open -- and fund border security -- delivers significantly less than President Donald Trump's requested $5.7 billion for his border wall (or "Peaches," whatever you want to call it).

But Trump DOES have other options to try to build that wall, report CNN's Dana Bash and Betsy Klein, that don't need congressional approval.

These are four of them:

Accessing Treasury forfeiture funds
Using USC 284 to divert some Pentagon funds meant for counternarcotics
Using USC 2808 to gain access to military construction funds
Use Army Corps civil works funds using USC 2293

What will he do? Stay tuned...

LAUREN'S 2020 LATEST

Kamala Harris: Is taking her turn at New Hampshire's ultimate rite-of-passage: Politics and Eggs. She sits down for the New Hampshire Institute of Politics' breakfast forum on February 19.

Michael Bloomberg: Is prepared to drop half a billion dollars of his own money to beat Donald Trump in 2020, Politico reports.

Bill Weld: Who has a Politics and Eggs sit down of his own on Friday, is already teasing some presidential primary news at the event, WMUR's John DiStaso reports.

CORRECTION: Yesterday's item on Democrat Mark Kelly's announcement of a Senate run in Arizona mistakenly said the seat used to belong to his wife, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The seat, now held by Republican Sen. Martha McSally, actually previously belonged to the late Sen. John McCain. The 2020 race will decide who gets to serve the last two years of McCain's term, then the seat will come up again for a full six-year term in 2022.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

There's a senator who does have a Native American heritage (and it's not who you'd expect!).

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's direct maternal line is Native American -- a fact he learned in the PBS series Finding Your Roots (and which happened to air on Tuesday).

Rubio tweeted the tidbit, calling it "one of the most amazing things I have ever been a part of."

YOUR DAILY GIF

From Brenna: "My favorite of Roger Stone's rules: 'It is better to be infamous than to never be famous at all.' My favorite of Roger Stone's expressions: see above. Share The Point with someone who hasn't HEARD of it!"

We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski. Follow Chris and Lauren on Twitter.

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