Government borrowing

Read this article:    Federal Deficits Are Worse Than You Think

So the government publicly states that there spending is something like this:
Revenues:  $3.3 trillion
Outlays: $4.1 trillion
Deficit: $800 billion (added to the national debt).

But maybe a better way of looking at it would included the flow of funds, which would look something like this:
Tax Revenues: $3.3 trillion
Borrowed:  $9.0 trillion
Total Sources of Funds:  $12.3 trillion

Outlays (other than interest): $3.8 trillion
Interest:  $300 billion
Redemptions:  $8.2 trillion
Total Uses of Funds: $12.3 trillion

Because there is a lot of short-term debt that is redeemed, the government needs to borrow about $750 billion a month to keep afloat. 

As of October 18, the Treasury already borrowed $623 billion in just over 1/2 month and it used $566 billion of that to redeem expiring debt.  Only $57 billion was used for other spending.  Tax revenues as of that date were $147 billion.  The Treasury borrows about 77% of all the money it needs.

So another way of looking at the US Government is that it is primarily a bank with a benevolent arm.  Which leads to some other points.  1) It is a giant ponzi scheme which apparently can go on forever. 2) With that amount of cash sloshing about, it would be very easy to divert some of it to secret, off-shore programs.

And another thought.  The interest rate, while it is a cost to the debtor, is income to the creditor.  So it is to the benefit of the Federal Reserve, which is controlled by bankers, to increase the interest rate.  Interest on the national debt is free money, created by the US Government through its ponzi scheme, and given to the banksters for doing nothing, other than having the perverse ingenuity in creating such a system.