Trace Adkins Weighs In on the U.S. Economic Crisis

"Let's just say it's OK to go in debt. That'll be good .... that'll fix everything," Trace Adkins sarcastically quips on CNN's 'Piers Morgan Tonight.' "That's where it started, and we've continued on a couple generations now -- just allowing that way of thinking to dominate. It doesn't make sense to me."

The country superstar joined his former 'Celebrity Apprentice' rival Piers Morgan to talk about the national debt crisis, which has lead to the lowest stock market level in nearly a year. Trace offers a candid perspective on the crisis.

"If the government was a publicly held business that was traded on the stock market, the shareholders would have fired the whole bunch of them," says the hitmaker. "They'd say, 'We have to start over here. Something is seriously wrong.'"

In addition to talking politics, the 'Just Fishin'' singer visited with Piers to plug his latest album, 'Proud to Be Here," which was released on August 2. Regarding the collection's title track, the towering baritone told The Boot, "I thought about the fact that I'm still in this business after 15 years, still around and still trying to contribute. That's really what I was thinking about when I named the album that."

'Proud to be Here' is being packaged in three different versions. The standard album includes the original 10-song tracklisting, while the deluxe package contains 14 tracks, including a brand-new duet with Blake Shelton, 'If I Was a Woman.' There will also be a 16-track edition of the album, available only at Target stores, which will include two live tunes.