National Debt ~ Government Shutdown

The thing now on everyone's minds these days is the national debt.  How in the world is the United States supposed to fix this looming problem?  Holy U.S dollar Batman, how about a government shutdown?  This seems to be the answer on allot of people's minds now.  However, as every decision the government makes, there is always going to be major consequences.  What we need to do is weigh out the advantages and disadvantages.  If we do not have a government shutdown the national debt will continue to climb and an uncontrollable rate.  If we do continue on this path there will be no possibility to pay it back.  This forces us to do something now to fix the problem.  With a government shutdown we will have the time needed to at least stall the issue.  However, we can see another problem because of this.  If there is a government shutdown that means the the government no longer spends money.  At first glance this is good because we need to stop the out of control spending; however, that means that the government stops trading with foreign countries.  If this happens food and gas prices will continue to climb at a higher rate.  This causes economic damage.  Our economy can not handle anymore pressure.  A full government shutdown can have major economic consequences.  This means that we just avoided another new economic crisis by the Senate and House finally agreeing on a budget bill.  In the end we must do everything possible to avoid any other government shutdown in the future if any budget bill is possible.