A few months ago, I wrote about the movie “I.O.U.S.A.” and the United States’ enormous national debt. That was before the government rescued AIG for $85 billion and before the $700 billion government bailout plan passed Congress, part of which is being used to inject $250 billion into banks in exchange for equity.

After seeing “I.O.U.S.A.,” which focuses on the national and personal debt in the U.S., I was worried, to say the least. When I wrote about the U.S. debt after seeing the movie on August 21, it was at a whopping $9,618,734,657,724.09, according to the Treasury Department, which has a nifty little Debt to the Penny feature on its Web site.

The filmmakers estimated that the national debt would reach the $10 trillion mark by January 2009. Unfortunately, no crystal ball could predict that in the next two months the financial landscape of the U.S. would be drastically altered.

The national debt has reached $10,523,955,355,856.66 as of October 24, an increase of 9% in about two months. These numbers are nearly too large for the mind to comprehend. To break it down, it means that if every American had to re-pay this debt, each person would owe $35,079.85. And if the debt were just to be re-paid by Americans over age 18, each one would owe $46,773.13.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to be on the hook for $46,773.13, or even $35,079.85, to the federal government. I still have mixed feelings about the bailout, as it didn’t stem investors’ panic in the short term. But I’ll try to have a little patience as we wait to see what the future brings. The housing bubble and credit crisis weren’t formed overnight and I don’t expect them to go away that quickly either.

But I do believe we need to demand more fiscal responsibility from our government, something with which it has had a difficult time. Even before the economic crisis, the U.S. government was piling up debt like it was Monopoly money. And now, the buck will get passed to whomever is elected on November 4.

To the next president, I would say this: Get the financial system back on track by setting an example for the American people. Instead of spending more than you have, live within your means, save money for a rainy day and invest in the future.

Nearly every presidential candidate says he is going to reduce spending and balance the budget, and some have done better than others once elected, but now, perhaps more than ever, we need the government to get spending under control. The country has hit a critical mass of debt.

Obviously, we can’t just shut down the government to get the debt under control or cut programs that are vital to the country’s operations, but someday these bills are going to come due. Someday it will be time to pay the piper.