Apple now has more cash on hand than the US Government

There's something wrong with your country when one of the most financially stable companies has more cash on hand than you do. But that is exactly what happened at the end of business Wednesday, according to the latest available daily financial statement from the US Treasury.

With a cash-on-hand balance of about $73.8 billion, the US Government now has less money on hand than Apple, who reported it had $76.2 billion in cash and securities at the end of last quarter.

It's the tale of two different financial strategies. Apple's obviously spending a lot less than it makes, thus allowing it to build a huge stockpile of cash. Our government on the other hand is doing the opposite, spending quite a bit more than it makes.

One could argue in some cases that deficit spending is necessary, as the US Government itself is responsible for the economic well-being of the country as a whole. But Betanews is a tech site, and we'll let you argue that out in the comments.

Some will point out there's a huge difference between profitability and solvency, and they would be right. Apple is indeed one of the most profitable companies in the world right now, and is doing quite well for itself. The US Government on the other hand just needs to be solvent, having enough money to pay its bills -- or at least be able to borrow to do so.

As the nation is finding out from the increasingly contentious debt ceiling battle now going on in Washington, the US only has until Tuesday before it will run out of money and into "default:" where it will need to start making hard choices on what it has to pay and what it cannot.

Of course, Republicans and Democrats could just work together and get something done and we wouldn't need to worry about this. But the citizens of the United States can only dream, can't they?