The House of Representatives today released its equivalent of an expense report for the quarter that ran from July 1 through Sept. 30, and one of the first nuggets I noticed was this: Rep. Spencer Bachus donated a whopping $276.26 toward paying the national debt.

I don’t want to completely discount the Alabama Republican’s contribution. Considering he was only one of two lawmakers to support the worthwhile cause — Rep. Timothy Walz, D-Minn., donated $2,196 — Bachus gets an A for effort. But $276.26?

The national debt currently stands at more than $12 trillion and has been increasing at a rate of nearly $4 billion a day the past two-plus years. The average debt per citizen now stands at $39,141, and the debt load increases to $110,886 when only taxpayers are counted.

Assuming that Bachus donates the same amount every quarter, he will have no impact whatsoever toward the ultimate goal of balancing the federal budget. If Bachus convinced his other 534 colleagues in Congress to donate $276.26 every quarter, the total still would be a mere $591,196.40. At that rate, it would take more than 20 million years just to pay the principal on the debt.

Bachus’ gesture, like that of other Americans who donate money toward paying the debt, is purely symbolic.

Bachus would better serve his constituents and the country if he forsook spending earmarks, which rank among the largest budget items (nearly $18 billion) tracked on the debt clock. Taking that step also would be little more than symbolic in the big debt picture, but at least he would be sacrificing something real — millions of dollars intended to curry political favor at home.

For example, Citizens Against Government Waste reported in its 2009 “Pig Book” summary that Bachus secured nearly $2.4 million for six projects, including $142,000 to build a park welcome center, restroom facilities, and security office for the Alabama Historic Ironworks Commission. A search of the group’s database revealed that Bachus added nearly $14 million total to the federal budget for 21 projects.

The national debt will be a problem as long as the government refuses to restrain out-of-control “entitlement” programs like Medicare, and as long as politicians insist on creating new ones and bailing out flawed businesses. But if well-meaning lawmakers like Bachus truly want to make a difference, they will forget the penny-ante personal contributions toward the national debt and start cutting the fat they add to the budget every year.