By Bill O'Reilly

While our leaders in Washington continue to embarrass the country by failing to get a debt deal done, Americans are somewhat confused about what's going on.

What the debt situation is really all about is your right to pursue happiness. America is the greatest country on Earth because it gives the most people the most opportunity to prosper. It does that by using the free marketplace, whereby people can work hard, make money and provide for themselves and their families. But since the mid-1960s, America has practiced social engineering: spending tax money trying to directly improve the lives of those who don't have very much. These payments are called entitlements, and they are now so high they threaten to bankrupt the nation.

Liberal Americans tend to support the entitlement society, while conservatives are more inclined to promote individualism and smaller entitlement spending. President Obama, of course, is a liberal, and the Democratic Party is now dominated by the left. That's why in the past two-and-a-half years federal spending has broken the bank.

It's worth repeating. Under President Obama, the government is now running up a debt of more than $4 billion a day, far more than any other president.

But what are we getting for all that spending?

A new study by the Pew Research Center says that the net worth of white Americans is 20 times that of black Americans and 18 times that of Hispanics. On the surface, that looks bad. But if you look behind the statistics, it's not about skin color or ethnicity; it's about education. The unemployment rate for Americans with college degrees is 4.4 percent. If you have a high school degree, it's 10 percent. If you fail to graduate from high school, the unemployment rate is a whopping 14.3 percent.

So you can see the key to success is graduating from college. Our high-tech society demands educated people, and if you are not educated, you are likely in for a rough time.

Also, the unemployment rate proves that no matter how much money the feds pump into the hands of the less affluent, it does not make much of a difference. You build wealth by making a good salary, buying a home and saving as much as you can.

The essential mistake that Barack Obama is making is that he believes Lyndon Johnson's great society entitlements can elevate the poor to prosperity. They can't. In 1965, the poverty rate stood at 14 percent. Now, after untold trillions have been spent, the poverty rate is 14.3 percent.

Amazing, is it not?

The conclusion: America is bankrupting itself with an entitlement philosophy that does little.

And that's "The Memo."

Pinheads & Patriots

Last Saturday, Tennessee pastor Joe Nelms gave the invocation at a NASCAR race:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE NELMS, PASTOR: Lord, I want to thank you for my smokin' hot wife tonight, Lisa, my two children, Eli and Emma. Lord, I pray you bless the drivers tonight, that they put on a performance worthy of this racetrack. In Jesus name, boogity, boogity, boogity, amen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Well, a bit unorthodox, pardon the pun. But an appeal to positive spirituality, even in a casual way, is patriotic, I think.

— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com.