Great post-- and thanks for the link.
You showed that from '93 to now, average debt service has gone from 11% disposable income to almost 14%. You seem to be saying that this suggests that people are poorer, which in turn suggests that the BEA is wrong in saying that real disposable income is up.
It doesn't, because what matters is that real total family wealth has increased over this same period by more than half. This means that it's OK if we're paying 14, 15 or 16% of our income on debt service, as long as we also get an increase in our net worth (assets - debt) that's even greater --namely an inflation adjusted increase of over 50 %.
Some people object to debt on religious grounds, and that's their choice. For example, orthodox Moslems believe that it's a sin to borrow and pay interest. They would rather starve to death (their kids too) than pay any interest at all. I hope you're not saying that any increase in debt service is bad no matter how much wealth is created. I like my net worth increased --if I take out a loan to do it that's fine with me --as long as when I'm done I can pay off the loan and find that my bottom line has improved by more than half. This is exactly what's happened.