PAPER: USA has record $61.6 TRILLION in unfunded obligations; $534,000 per household

Now where do you suppose they will get the money from. The government is not a business, they don’t earn money. They steal it from you and me!

U.S. funding for future promises lags by trillions

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

The federal government's financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.

This gap between spending commitments and revenue last year equals more than one-third of the nation's gross domestic product.

Medicare alone took on $1.8 trillion in new liabilities, more than the record deficit prompting heated debate between Congress and the White House over lifting the debt ceiling.

STORY: Government's mountain of debt

The government has promised pension and health benefits worth more than $700,000 per retired civil servant. The pension fund's key asset: federal IOUs.