(The Center Square)–As Americans file their taxes at the last minute this April 15, the federal debt – and Americans’ federal debt burden – continues to grow.
While the federal government reports a national debt nearing $37 trillion, one budget watchdog says the figure is actually much higher: $158.6 trillion, amounting to $974,000 for each federal taxpayer.
Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit budget accountability group that emphasizes a different approach to government accounting, released those figures, arguing that they more accurately represent the fiscal situation of the federal government.
TIA’s report includes $51.6 trillion for Medicare and $67.1 trillion for Social Security for benefits that have been promised to recipients down the road but are not considered in the ordinary national debt conversation.
“These numbers come from the Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports, which include calculations of the present value of projected benefits over the next 75 years, offset by the dedicated receipts expected over that period,” TIA Founder and CEO Sheila Weinberg told The Center Square. “Our calculations focus only on current participants – we do not include receipts or benefits from future participants.
“For Medicare specifically, in addition to the estimates based on current law, the actuaries also provide projections under the ‘Illustrative Alternative Scenario’… This scenario includes more realistic assumptions about future physician payment rates, and we use the IAS in our estimates.”
For instance, current government debt levels do not take into account the future payments for Social Mecurity and Medicare in the coming years, some of the nation’s biggest and most problematic financial obligations.
“The Treasury Department only included a fraction, $241 billion, of the Social Security and Medicare liabilities on the federal balance sheet because unknown to most people, according to government documents, recipients do not have the right to any benefits beyond the benefits to be paid next month, and laws to reduce or stop future benefits can be passed at any time,” reads TIA’s report, first obtained by The Center Square.
Budget experts have raised the alarm for years about the federal government’s runaway spending – under both political parties – and the threat it poses to the U.S.
“Our country’s financial condition continues to spiral out of control, and taxpayers are left holding the bag,” Weinberg said.
TIA argues current federal accounting downplays the severity of the U.S. debt problem.
“Nontransparent, flawed budgeting and accounting techniques currently produce inaccurate amounts, making the federal government’s finances difficult, if not impossible, to manage,” the report said. “The first step in managing the nation’s finances should be presenting accurate and transparent figures through full accrual budgeting and accounting that includes the costs and growth in the liabilities related to the two programs our seniors rely on the most, Social Security and Medicare. This would enable Congress, the President, and the American people to make better-informed tax and spending decisions.”
We do not even know what the federal government spends because as Elon Musk has revealed there are several “magic money computers” in the federal government that just spend money created out of thin air with no trail whatsoever.
There is no way to actually know the Federal Debt and I’d say it doesn’t matter. If DOGE has taught us anything, this debt-based system is massively corrupt. I’ll assert that the ONLY fix for this is to return to the US Constitution where money is asset backed by gold and silver. The challenge for our MAGA POTUS will be going from where we are at now to where we need to go _and_ to minimize the economic hit to We the People as we make the transition.
Buy gold, silver, land, and hard assets.
Your retirement investments can be evaporated in an instant. Nothing is real. You live off a belief. Recession to Depression, your portfolio can collapse. Investments in any corporation/industry that goes under can make your 50 years of work retirement go from $2M to $10K overnight. I’ve seen it happen to a lot of people. Diversify your portfolio? Not a chance. The people investing and moving your money are not bright. They do what they are told. Winners are picked. You aren’t in the club. Whatever happened to the untold trillions of mortgage debt from 2008? Printed fiat currency. Everything is an illusion. As long as you are ok with that, then don’t complain when you end up in a nursing home and not some oceanfront home in Costa Rica.
I have been saying that the government stating that our national debt is 36 trillion plus is false because they do not take into consideration of the official budget debt , Social Security and Medicare balloon that along with all other debt to the tune of close to 159 trillion. I wrote my Senators and congressman back in the 70’s concerning my concern over solvency of Social Security. The response you need not worry the Social Security is in a lock box. This is government speak. Which is it went to the Treasury and is all ready spent! They lied to us then and are still doing so! I say they should never get more than 1 term in office and have to swear an oath to uphold the constitution and amendment to plus bill of rights. Anyone violating should be sent directly to jail for the rest of their days. We definitely need government accountability before we get flushed and the whole country goes down the sewer!
Lies. Lies and more lies is all we get the Social Security funds that were in a lock box were sent to the treasury and spent eons ago. Our true national debt is close to 159 trillion. If we do not stop this madness we will soon be wiping our rears with $1000 bills because it will be cheaper than buying a roll of Charmin! Then all that will be left is to flush!
The 37 trillion dollar figure is actually the deficit. It is the accumulated amount of government over- spending. It is only a small part of the national debt. This includes Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and employee pensions, and Treasury Bonds/Notes. We live under a debt system which accumulates debt that we cannot repay. No country (or company or individual) can continue operating while accumulating unpayable debt. The system is designed to eventually collapse, and it will. The owners of all this debt, mainly the central bankers, are waiting for the collapse at which time they will own all assets of the country, including the country itself. The dollar, being valueless at that point, will cease to exist, replaced by CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). Physical cash will not longer exist, replaced by fully controlled digital ledgers. Aside from gold and silver, there will be little of anything of any value (nobody will have any money of their own). Be prepared, as chaos will rule when the financial system collapses.