[KarlInOhio]

Every warning about "the real debt" during the Obama misadministration were from right wing sources. This writer is obviously a leftist because of his wording: "doesn’t acknowledge bills that we know we must pay in the future like tax cuts". Tax cuts might either increase or decrease revenue depending on which side of the Laffer Curve we are on, but in neither case is it in the accounts payable column.

Also, how do businesses account for "planned, but not contractually required" expenses? Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid could be reduced or even canceled tomorrow with no legal repercussions. They are not contractual obligations.

[NohSpinZone]

“Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid could be reduced or even canceled tomorrow with no legal repercussions. They are not contractual obligations.”

Not in the eyes of the US Treasury. Those items are hardwired as mandatory spending outlays and cannot be changed without an act of Congress signed into law by the President.