Ha! Maybe instead of buying iPods, we should have been buying government bonds. From the BBC:

Latest figures from the US Treasury Department show that the country has an operating cash balance of $73.7 billion.

Apple's most recent financial results put its reserves at $76.4 billion.

The US House of Representatives is due to vote on a bill to raise the country's debt ceiling, allowing it to borrow more money to cover spending commitments.

Americans have a problem with debt. The government hasn't been setting a good example for citizens. Check out the stats from this GOOD article about quitting credit cards:
More than 75 percent of Americans use credit cards, and 44 percent of households have credit card balances they need to pay off. According to the Federal Reserve, U.S. credit card users now have $721 billion in outstanding balances; that’s more than $2,300 for every single man, woman, and child in the United States. For a nation that’s ostensibly so disgusted with debt, we sure do have a lot of it in our personal lives.

I quit my only credit card a few months ago. It's been a hassle in very rare situations (why the hell is renting a car so difficult with a debit card?) and I'm a little worried about my credit score. But mostly, I'm glad to have no chance to rack up debt.