It’s even worse than this report states. When unfunded entitlements are included, the real debt is over 56 Trillion (187,000 per person), which is more than the total net worth of all US Citizens.
The real debt has increased by almost 20 Trillion since Bush entered office. 5 Trillion to the reported national debt through deficit spending, and 11 Trillion by the Medicare Part D program that he signed into law. The other 5 Trillion came through the growth of the remaining entitlement programs for which there is no funding.
Before the latest economic crisis this debt was increasing by 2-3 Trillion per year. Who knows how fast it will grow now.
The entitlement problem is a few years away. I don’t think there is any real debt till around 2012 on that. Future obligation will change....I have no doubt about that. Neither party can survive that sort of debt.