We have paid it off in the past under Clinton. He ran surpluses from 1998 - 2001. Bush (W) used up those surpluses and then some, creating another deficit. Obama lowered that deficit significantly, but Trump ran it back up. Notice a pattern here? Dems lower or eliminate deficits but Repubs who claim to be fiscally conservative create HUGE deficits thanks to their policies of slashing taxes on the wealthy and corporations.