Not only is the U.S. government in debt, but many of its citizens are in significant debt as well. Economists announced that credit card debt for Americans has now reached a new height of $1.02 trillion.

Matt Schultz is a senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com. He says, “This record should serve as a wake-up call to Americans to focus on their credit card debt.” He adds, “Even if you feel your debt is manageable right now, know that you could be one unexpected emergency away from real trouble.”

While I am talking about credit card debt, let me also talk about other debts that Americans currently hold. The New York Federal Reserve recently released a report that estimated the collective U.S. household debt at about $12.73 trillion. Once again this is a record and surpasses the previous amount back in 2008 during the recession.

The report also provides some context to American debt. Housing-related debt is down nearly $1 trillion since the 2008 peak. However, auto loan balances are $367 billion higher, and student loans are $671 billion higher.

In the past, we have talked about the growing problem of student loan debt, so let me focus a moment on auto loan debt. Americans struggle with this form of debt, especially because there are often higher interest rates. Millions of these loans are in delinquency and many people report taking out a loan with a repayment period longer than the time they planned to own the vehicle.

In my book, Making the Most of Your Money in Tough Times, I talk about the dangers of debt. Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a servant to the lender.” So many Americans are enslaved by debt.

When the U.S. debt officially reached $20 trillion, some listeners asked who owns this debt. In the past, we were assured that the national debt wasn’t a big deal since “we owe it to ourselves.” I didn’t think that comment was very reassuring then. It is simply isn’t true now.

The U.S. borrows heavily from foreign countries, especially the Chinese. And this creates the first problem: foreign influence. One former member of Congress put it this way, “whoever pays the piper gets to call the tune. Foreign leaders aren’t inclined to whistle ‘Yankee Doodle!'”

Another problem is that these countries are not an infinite source of credit. They have their own economies to deal with and will probably want to put their investments closer to home, especially as they look at the current congressional spending spree.

Are we approaching a time when America’s excessive borrowing makes us a bad credit risk? Sometimes the U.S. looks like some of its citizens who have maxed out their credit cards and have nowhere else to turn.

The amount some of these countries hold in American debt is staggering. The U.S. government owes China about $1.1 trillion. Saudi Arabia probably has about $700 billion in assets. A number of years ago they threatened to sell that much off when Barack Obama was president.

These countries that have been lending America money may not wish to invest any more in America and might even decide to withdraw their current investments. In previous commentaries, I warned about the possibility that these foreign investors may simply decide to cash in their Treasury bills and invest them closer to home. If our creditors cut us off, our Treasury securities could reach junk bond status.

The lesson here is simple. Before you spend the money, you need to know where it will be coming from.

For the last five years, First Liberty Institute has published a document with the title, Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America. It provides an overview of the various documented examples of religious hostility.

The idea for the document came from testimony given to a U.S. Senate subcommittee. After some of the examples of religious hostility were presented, some of the senators asked if the testimonies represented more than just a few isolated incidents. Back then, that was a typical question.

More than a dozen years ago, David Limbaugh published his book Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity to answer that question. He noticed that whenever you talked about a case that threatened religious liberty, the typical response was to suggest that this was merely an isolated case. His 450-page book made it difficult to argue that religious hostility was rare.

First Liberty is providing a service by reporting on these cases. They say that since 2012 that there has been a 133 percent increase in instances of hostility. The current edition includes 1,400 anecdotes of religious discrimination in America.

By the way, even this list is not complete. What are listed are just the recorded stories and anecdotes that appear in newspapers or are part of some litigation. They obviously don’t include all the cases where religious hostility is not reported or litigated.

Kelly Shackelford of First Liberty is quick to point out the significant victories for religious liberty. Their 2012 case for a veteran’s memorial is one. The Hobby Lobby case of 2014 is another. And this year the Supreme Court case with Trinity Lutheran was also a victory for religious freedom.

Nevertheless, this latest edition of Undeniable should make it clear to just about anyone that religious hostility in America is indeed undeniable.

Two years ago, I did a commentary about a Christian T-shirt company that was sued because the owner declined to print a message that conflicted with his biblical perspective. I recently found out much more about Blaine Adamson and wanted to tell you the rest of his story.

Five years ago, a customer who came to his company, Hands on Originals, sued him when he declined to print a message that promoted homosexuality. Blaine says that he got into the T-shirt printing business because so many of the Christian T-shirts at the time was so poorly done. They were, in his words, “cheesy.”

Because he has high standards, he has declined to print other T-shirts. Once he was asked to make a shirt with Jesus on a bucket of chicken, with chickens coming out the bucket. He turned them down. He also turned down shirt orders that would have promoted an adult film, another that would have promoted a strip club, and a few that he felt promoted violence. In fact, he even declined to print a simple black shirt with white lettering that read, “Homosexuality is a sin.”

Blaine Adamson employs gay people in his business and has gay customers. He has even printed materials for a local band called Mother Jane whose lead singer is a lesbian. So you can see why he felt it was unfair to be sued for not printing one T-shirt that would promote homosexual activities. It is also worth mentioning that two lesbian printers in New Jersey voiced their support for him because they didn’t want to be forced to print message that would violate their consciences.

So far, he has been successful in the courts. A judge ruled that he has the freedom to print which messages he wanted to promote. An appeals court also agreed. Now the case has been appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

I hope the judges see this case for what it is. It is a nuisance suit that is a direct attack on his First Amendment rights.

This month 15 Democratic senators signed on to what has been dubbed “Medicare for All.” The bill was introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders and is an attempt to promote nationalized health care by linking it to a relatively popular governmental program.

The name sounds like something created and tested in a focus group. “Medicare for All” sounds nice, but it could just as easily be called “VA for All.” But with all the problems at government-run VA hospitals, it doesn’t exactly have the same feel.

Let’s state the obvious. The U.S. Senate is not going to pass a bill that creates a single-payer plan for universal health-care. The House of Representatives is even less likely to pass such a bill. The plan is an attempt to provide an election year alternative to the Republican slogan of “repeal and replace Obamacare.” The phrase “Medicare for All” has a nice ring to it, until you begin to count the costs.

Two blue states have tried smaller versions of “Medicare for All.” Vermont implemented “Green Mountain Care” in 2011. The state eventually had to abandon this single payer plan because it would cost billions more than the state could allocate.

California also considered a single-payer plan. Even though Democrats have significant majorities in both the Senate and Assembly, they had to kill the proposal because the cost would be more than double the state budget.

Selling the “Medicare for All” plan to the American voters will be next to impossible. The cost estimates are enough to sink the plan. But also consider that people who are currently on Medicare would be forced to pay more in taxes and get no benefit (other than what they already receive).

Right now, Americans complain that they can’t keep their doctor or insurance plan. Under this proposal they would have even less freedom than they currently have to choose their doctor or hospital. “Medicare for All” is a really bad idea.

Overall it has been a disappointing summer for Hollywood, but one movie recently provided a significant bump in box offices sales. The movie It is an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel and broke many box office records for September.

Why is a scary movie doing so well in theaters? There are many theories. First, there was the buildup to the movie after the first trailer was released in March. It set a record with 197 million global views. Of course, you could point to other movie trailers that did well but didn’t perform when it came time to put people in the seats. Movies like Transformers, King Arthur, and The Mummy with well-known titles and huge budgets flopped this summer.

Second, there is the physiological response. Scary movies increase the heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. Professor Glenn Sparks explains that frightening films leave a physiological arousal known as the “excitation transfer process.” The rush of excitement keeps them coming back for more.

Third, Joanna Robinson writing for Vanity Fair reminds us that people, “tired of being shushed or those tired of shushing,” don’t have that problem in horror movies. People are expected to scream, shriek, and even talk back to the screen (don’t go in there). It is a communal experience of shared terror.

Last month I quoted from Pastor Rick Stedman who argues that superhero movies and horror movies are popular because our materialistic society has repressed belief in the supernatural. Quoting from the book, Monsters From the Id by Michael Jones, Rick Stedman uses the psychological terms of sublimation and displacement to explain our fascination with these movies. As a society we may deny the supernatural, but God has placed eternity in our hearts so we look for the supernatural element in other areas, like fantasy films and horror movies.

According to a new U.S. Census Bureau report, the millennial generation has been reversing some of the social trends that were true of previous generations. For example about one third of all millennials still live with their parents. They also apparently rely on them financially as well. The millennial generation is also postponing marriage, having children later, and buying homes later. Instead, they are pursuing education and various job opportunities.

Many of these reversed trends have taken place recently. In 2005, only 25 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 34 lived with their parents. Today, that number is 34 percent. To put this in perspective, more people in that age group live with their parents (22.9 million), than live with a spouse (19.9 million).

Education is one reason for this remarkable change. Young women are much more likely to attain a college degree than just a few decades ago. They are also much more likely to have a full-time job. By contrast, young men are slightly less likely to be employed than in the recent past.

Another study done by the firm, Age Wave, in partnership with Merrill Lynch uncovered how much parents are financially helping their adult children. When Mom and Dad give their adult children $100 here and $200 there, it adds up. The average amount given is $6,800 annually. Some financial counselors suggest that parents reconsider this and instead shore up their own retirement nest eggs.

Millennials are also marrying later in life. In 1976, 85 percent of women and 75 percent of men had been married by age 29. Today, only 46 percent of women and 32 percent of men say they were married before they turned 30. Instead, many more are living together. Cohabitation has grown 12-fold over the last 40 years.

These trends show how the millennial generation is changing the world around us.

Last week the president’s Commission on Election Integrity met in New Hampshire. Why did they meet in that state? There is good evidence that voter fraud in New Hampshire affected both the presidential election and a U.S. Senate election.

Both of these elections were close. Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in New Hampshire by 2,736 votes out of 745,000 cast. The incumbent U.S. senator was defeated by a mere 1,017 votes.

The Granite State has same-day registration. That means you can register to vote and then cast a vote on the same day. According to newly released state data, 6,540 people voted on Election Day using out-of-state drivers’ licenses. As of August of this year just over 1,000 of those same-day registrants have obtained a New Hampshire drivers’ license.

That leaves only two possibilities. Either 5,500 people are driving around New Hampshire on invalid licenses. Or lots of out-of-state residents illegally cast ballots in New Hampshire. After all the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border is a mere 40-minute drive for progressives in Boston who might want to swing an election.

I might mention that this is just the most recent issue of voter fraud in this state. In a recent column, Robert Knight quotes the chairman of the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers who has been tracking voter fraud for 17 years. In November after examining absentee ballots, he “caught a Florida woman who has been voting in Florida since 1998 and has been voting [in New Hampshire] for the last 10 years.”

The Commission Vice Chairman Kris Kobach also serves as the Kansas secretary of state. He believes that out-of-state voters in New Hampshire in November were “more than enough to swing two very important elections.” That is why we need further investigation into voter fraud.