@ Gillstone: I meant the measures they took in Greece, not the financial status... I think you are right in saying it would be difficult to compare them.
The short answer why we aren't Greece includes....
1. We control our own currency, as a member of the EU, Greece has no control
Which is not necessarily against the Greek economy, it has saved their backs. Without the monetary union, they would be bankrupt now.2. We have a Congressional Budget Office, General Accountability Office, and other non-partisan internal mechanisms to track funds and ensure money goes where it needs to. Greece never had this and its one of the reasons why they had so many "off the books" government positions and why no one knew how bad the economy was until the old party was voted out and no longer holding the purse strings.
This is part of the fat they have cut in the last years. You do however have an army that costs an incredible amount, not discussing whether it is a good expense or not, but it is an expense.3. While we aren't fans of taxes here, in Greece tax avoidance is nearly a civic religion
In Belgium the traditional joke is that it is our national sport. We still have a lower debt/GDP ratio than the USA. ( A lot of our debt is historical, which makes the numbers look worse than they are in reality)A large national debt can be a concern, and we do need to address the US debt levels; however, we would do better to compare to similar-scale economies such as Canada or Japan.
You are absolutely right in thisI would also like to point out that the article you posted is over 3 years old. In those 3 years draconic cuts have been made, with the EU and the IMF watching every move the Greek government they made. A more recent article would be this:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/24/greece-current-idUSL5N0KY0TX20140124While I assume it might be optimistic, I think it shows a good sign of improvement (financially).
The USA is not Greece, but whether it is necessarily better, I don't know.