Total US debt (in dollars, not as a fraction of GDP, which is a horrible measure) increased every year through Clinton (and basically everyone else in modern history).
To a lay reader like myself, it would easily lead to confusion if people talk about different numbers without making the distinction clear. Is there a well known relationship between government debt and private debt? Or is talking up Total US Debt just a distraction from the article, which talks about Government Debt?
Yes.
"[...T]he difference between the government budget deficit and the trade deficit must equal the difference between private saving and investment[...]"
http://internationalecon.com/Finance/Fch5/F5-9.php
Holding the trade deficit constant and lowering government debt implies a rise in private debt.
It's also a bit of apples-and-oranges when you compare the nominal debt of one country with another without looking at the differences in GDP between the countries, i.e. the size of each country's economy.
The debt dollar is a horrible instrument that will not end well. We may be decades off, but it's gonna be ugly.