When all is said and done, the federal debt doesn't really belong to the government. It's the peoples' debt, and the people are going to have to cut it and share the sacrifice.

There's no question that sooner or later the debt needs to be brought under control. The debate is over when and how. The hawks want it reduced immediately. Others say that it makes more sense to wait until the economy is on a stronger footing. Paul Krugman says the country should "devise a plan for putting the nation’s fiscal house in order, while waiting until a solid economic recovery is under way before wielding the ax."

Yet the ax will be wielded, sooner or later. The deficit—the amount by which the U.S. budget is in the red in a given year—was 8.9 percent of GDP in fiscal year 2010, which ended on September 30. That's uncomfortably close to the 12.7 percent level that has created havoc in Greece.

That balance sheet is holding back the economy by creating uncertainty about the outlook for inflation. It discourages CEOs from investing in new plants and equipment and people. Travelers CEO Jay Fishman all but pleaded last week for the government to address the problem.

President Obama's bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform issued a tough preliminary report last week that would cut the federal workforce by 10 percent, raise the retirement age, gradually, to 69, and end tax breaks such as the mortgage-interest deduction. The tax structure would be simplified, lowering rates for many, but closing loopholes.

Over time, the plan would balance the budget. "If the plan was adopted in its entirety, it would reduce the deficit to 2.2 percent of gross domestic product by 2015, exceeding the target set for the panel by the White House of lowering the deficit to 3 percent of GDP, but it would still take until 2037 to balance the budget entirely," the Wall Street Journal noted.

Similar balancing acts have led to fatal uprisings in Greece, strikes in France, and a violent protest in Britain. The U.S. is different, to some extent, because there's actual grassroots support for cutting back the deficit and slowly reducing the outstanding debt, which is playing havoc in the currency markets and the global economy and hurting the business environment in the U.S.

But there will be mounting opposition to specific reform proposals. There will be widespread pain, including the small businesses that traditionally drive job growth. As government spending slows down, lucrative government contracts for small companies will be more scarce. And while the government seems willing to lower taxes on R&D, net taxes paid by high-earning small-business owners could rise. That damage may be the price of dispelling the fiscal uncertainty that concerns Fishman.

Some pain, however, is inevitable. Getting the country's balance sheet in order isn't as simple as having lawmakers pass a bill. That's just the beginning, not the end, of fiscal reform. The "budget" is just words and numbers, an abstract description of spending and revenues, which are real. Eventually, the price of fiscal freedom will work its way back to every person in the United States.