Shocker: U.S. wouldn't qualify for foundering EU

...neither financial markets nor European citizens are convinced any longer that the EU can live by the very rules that made its common currency and economic policy existence possible. That rule, basically, is this: No EU nation can run a deficit of more than 3% of GDP annually, and none can exceed public debt of 60% of GDP annually.

The PIIGS are by far the worst when it comes to this critical measure of budget discipline. Portugal, for instance, has a deficit of 9.3% of GDP, and debt of over 80%. But it's not alone. No major nation in the EU meets the criteria for membership today. Investors don't want their bonds.

What's this got to do with the U.S.? Plenty. Right now, we wouldn't qualify for EU membership either. And just because our government refuses to address its own fiscal irresponsibility, doesn't mean the people aren't thinking about it.

In a newly released Fox News poll, 78% said they feared a U.S. financial collapse brought on by fiscal mismanagement. And by 3-to-1, respondents said the nation's exploding federal debt was a more serious problem than terrorism.