Hoyer downplays U.S. debt, says it 'only' equals annual GDP

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Wednesday sought to downplay the $15 trillion U.S. debt by saying it is far less than Greece's debt as a share of annual gross domestic product.

"They're 128 percent, I think, in debt," Hoyer said of Greece on the House floor. "We're only at about 100 percent; if you count our internal debt it's less than that."

Greece's debt has actually been reported as equaling about 182 percent of its GDP, making Greece even worse off than Hoyer portrayed, at least in terms of debt as a percentage of GDP. However, the U.S. is carrying far more debt than Greece — the U.S. owes more than $15 trillion, while Greece's debt is below $400 billion.

Still, Hoyer, said the U.S. is in a far better position to dig itself out of debt than Greece.

"The problem that Greece has is they don't have the resources to solve their problem," Hoyer he said. "America, the good news for us is we have the resources to solve our problems, if we have the courage and political will to do so."

Hoyer did not propose a specific solution, although Democrats have said for the last year that the debt must be retired through a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes. However, Hoyer also seemed to argue that approving President Obama's request for a $1.2 trillion increase in the debt ceiling would help reduce the debt.

"This vote is a small token of showing that we have the courage, the wisdom and the political will to do so," he said. "We need to pay our bills."

The House is expected to vote Wednesday evening on a Republican resolution disapproving of Obama's request.

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