Is the national debt a good thing or a bad thing?

[Preem]

According to Ken Fisher, deficits which add to the overall debt, tend to be a good thing for the stock market.

If you look back at the past few decades, rising deficits usually were a leading indicator of upward movements in the stock market, whereas, budget surpluses were followed by downturns.

Fisher is politically conservative, so one might suspect that his views are skewed. However, he is a highly respected money manager.