I believe total federal outlays were 2.6 trillion.
So if the govt. spent zero and still had the taxes the same, one is saying that we would still have a 1 trillion dollar deficit.
This report says federal outlays on a gaap basis is 5.1 trillion.
I have not read the report, but it seems to be irrelevant.
It's using the accounting method businesses have to use, taking into account the total obligations taken on by the government during this year, but not factoring the possible future revenue.
We are still collecting more social security cash than we are paying out, but we are "borrowing" that. That's a REAL deficit we are ignoring I guess, and I think if we counted that as borrowing the deficit would be around 600 billion instead of 200 billion.
But this report takes into account that we have an obligation to pay medicare and social security and also some pension liabilities and other liabilities, and if you add them all up our total liabilities went up by this trillions of dollars they mention.
But I think the statements ignore the revenue that is expected in future years. In other words, this is how bad it would be if, on December 31st, the United States closed it's doors, didn't collect another dime in taxes, but still paid off all of it's current obligations -- in other words, just like what a business has to keep track of.
Business has a real problem with these rules regarding pensions, which is why they switch to defined contribution plans which don't incur future liabilities. But businesses with defined benefit plans at least have invested money to cover those plans, rather than counting on future business income to pay them.
The United States has pension obligations for 1/10th of the work force of the country (that might be an exaggeration, how much of the total work force is employed by the federal government?), but has not save a single dime to cover that obligation. When those people retire, they are paid from existing taxes, while we also have to hire new people to replace them.
I don't know whether we should all run around screaming or not, because there's just no way I can get my hands around 50 trillion dollars of "debt", or understand whether that is unmanageable based on projected future tax revenue.