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THERE’S A WEIRD little bus stop at the corner of 18th and K streets in Washington, D.C. On the inside, a ticker tallies the national debt in real time, the glowing numbers whizzing by too quickly for the naked eye. On the outside, there’s a printed poster with a round number for the total debt: $34 trillion at press time.
I’ve lived in D.C. long enough to remember when changing that poster was a special occasion.