We all know the numbers are fudged -- that a lot of debt is not calculated in the annual deficit numbers, and that economic expansion is routinely overstated to reduce deficit projections. But an underlying problem lies in the government's use of cash-based, rather than accrual-based accounting.
Here's the sobering truth:
The true 2005 deficit was $760 billion, not the $318.5 billion Bush reported
This is 6.2% of the GDP, not 2.6%
That's $156,000 for every citizen, or $375,000 for every working American
The true national debt is $49 trillion, not the $8.3 trillion Bush reported
This figure has more than doubled in the past five years
We paid $327 billion last year on interest alone
It's all getting worse
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The above figures appear in the official U.S. Financial Report, released by the Treasury Department.
http://www.fms.treas.gov/fr/index.html
The whistleblower:
http://cooper.house.gov/newsroom/releases/july06/072006_budget.htm