All I know is that we need someone who is willing to tell the truth to the American public about how much we are f*cked if we continue down the path that we are. You think things are bad now? Just wait. Consider the facts below and who you think is most likely to solve these problems. Social issues need to be put on the back-burner until these things get resolved.
" * As of August 1, 2012, the official debt of the United States government is $15.9 trillion ($15,907,138,660,281).[1] This amounts to:
• $50,716 for every person living in the U.S.[2]
• $134,032 for every household in the U.S.[3]
* Publicly traded companies are legally required to account for "explicit" and "implicit" future obligations such as employee pensions and retirement benefits.[4] [5] [6] The federal budget, which is the "federal government's primary financial planning and control tool," is not bound by this rule.[7] [8]
* At the close of the federal government's 2011 fiscal year (September 30, 2011), the federal government had roughly:
• $7.3 trillion ($7,319,000,000,000) in liabilities such as federal employee retirement and veterans benefits.[9]
• $18.8 trillion ($18,800,000,000,000) in unfunded obligations for current Social Security participants above and beyond projected revenues from their payroll and benefit taxes, certain transfers from the general fund of the U.S. Treasury, and assets of the Social Security trust fund.[10]
• $24.4 trillion ($24,400,000,000,000) in obligations for current Medicare participants above and beyond projected revenues from their payroll taxes, benefit taxes, premium payments, and assets of the Medicare trust fund.[11]
These figures are determined in a manner that approximates how publicly traded companies are required to calculate their liabilities and obligations.[12] [13] [14] The obligations for Social Security and Medicare represent how much money must be immediately placed in interest-bearing investments to cover the projected shortfalls between dedicated revenues and expenditures for all current participants in these programs (both taxpayers and beneficiaries).[15] [16] [17]
* Combining the figures above with the national debt and subtracting the value of federal assets, the federal government had about $60.9 trillion ($60,929,000,000,000) in debts, liabilities, and Social Security/Medicare obligations at the close of its 2011 fiscal year.[18]
* This $60.9 trillion shortfall is 106% of the combined net worth of all U.S. households and nonprofit organizations, including all assets in savings, real estate, corporate stocks, private businesses, and consumer durable goods such as automobiles.[19] [20]
* This shortfall equates to:
• $195,140 for every person living in the U.S.[21]
• $513,380 for every household in the U.S.[22]
* These figures do not account for the future costs implied by any current policies except those of the Social Security and Medicare programs.[24]
* These figures are contingent upon the continuance of current federal law and "a wide range of complex assumptions" made by federal agencies."[25] Regarding this:
• Social Security's 2011 annual report states that "significant uncertainty" surrounds the "best estimates" of future circumstances.[26]
• Medicare's 2011 annual report states that the program's financial projections "do not represent a reasonable expectation for actual program operations in either the short range … or the long range" because:
- "Current law would require a physician fee reduction of an estimated 29.4 percent on January 1, 2012—an implausible expectation."
- The Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) eventually reduces "Medicare prices for hospital, skilled nursing facility, home health, hospice, ambulatory surgical center, diagnostic laboratory, and many other services" to "less than half of their level under the prior law. …. Well before that point, Congress would have to intervene to prevent the withdrawal of providers from the Medicare market and the severe problems with beneficiary access to care that would result. … [This] would lead to far higher costs for Medicare in the long range than those projected under current law."[27]
National Debt - Just Facts
