a sense of how screwed america is financially

(continued from the post below)

"This, however, is not the worst of it, because the national debt represents only a relatively small portion of our government's total financial obligations. The far greater bulk is made up of long-term liabilities inherent in entitlement programs. According to the latest estimates by the Dallas Federal Reserve, the combined liabilities of Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid amount to an astounding $104 trillion.

When we add the national debt and entitlements together, we get a figure of some $117 trillion. This figure represents the amount of money the federal government will have to come up with in the years ahead in order to discharge its obligations.

The sheer magnitude of this number makes it difficult to grasp. To give a sense of scale, it is about twice the current economic output of the whole world. It is also more than eight times the size of the American economy. With today's tax revenues it would take more than fifty-five years to pay for these obligations. This assumes there is no interest on the debt and that the federal government spends no money on anything else.

There is only one conclusion that reasonably can be drawn on the basis of these figures: The American federal government is simply not in the position to make good on its obligations."