Added to the current debt at close to $300 billion, our total commitments now reach the almost incredible total of $750 billion, or three-quarters of a trillion dollars. And even this stratospheric amount does not include another $250 or $300 billion we will need to collect in future tax increases to make good on our present promises under the social security system.(Elaine S. Povich, BYU Speeches of the Year, February 28, 1962)

…shoulders a $156,000 debt. That’s the estimated debt that every American owes the federal government, courtesy of the annual budget deficit, plus the national debt accumulated over the past century, plus promised but long-term unfunded commitments like his parents’ Medicare and Social Security payments.…Not only that, but the burden is growing. By the time [he] reaches working age, that amount could double or triple if nothing dramatic is done to alter the government’s accumulation of red ink. (Elaine S. Povich, AARP Bulletin, Vol 47, No. 2, February, 2006)