Truth, Inspiration, Hope.

US National Debt is Actually $123 Trillion: Report

David Wagner
David Wagner is a University of Manitoba graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion in Sociology. He is interested in the psychology of religious and ideological belief and the relationship between religions and the state in totalitarian countries.
Published: April 29, 2021
Long-time coal miner Billy Griffith pauses while working at a coal prep plant in Welch, West Virginia. The existing federal debt amounts to a $796,000 burden per taxpayer. “This spending agenda is about giving Washington more power and influence to interfere in the lives and livelihoods of America’s working class,” Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO)
Long-time coal miner Billy Griffith pauses while working at a coal prep plant in Welch, West Virginia. The existing federal debt amounts to a $796,000 burden per taxpayer. “This spending agenda is about giving Washington more power and influence to interfere in the lives and livelihoods of America’s working class,” Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO). (Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

According to a recent report from non-partisan American think tank Truth in Accounting, the true size of the U.S. national debt is actually $123 trillion, amounting to a $796,000 burden per taxpayer. As a result, the non-profit graded the U.S. government an “F” for its financial condition.

By comparison, the Department of Treasury calculates federal debt at $28 trillion. The gigantic discrepancy between the two figures is because the Treasury does not include proposed future spending. 

The report states the Treasury only considers $175.30 billion of Social Security and Medicare liabilities as debt because, “recipients do not have the right to benefits beyond the benefits currently being paid and laws to reduce or stop future benefits can be passed at any time.” Truth in Accounting adjusted these numbers to include the $55 trillion in unfunded Medicare benefits and $41.20 trillion in unfunded Social Security benefits in their calculations.

The report gave the following breakdown on debt:

What the Federal Government Has
Assets$5.95 trillion
What the Federal Government Owes
Medicare benefits$55.12 trillion
Social Security promises$41.20 trillion
Publicly held debt$21.08 trillion
Military & civilian retirement benefits$9.41 trillion
Other liabilities$2.25 trillion
Total debt-$129.06 trillion
Where the Federal Government Stands
Net Position-$123.11 trillion

In 2020, the federal government had to borrow almost $10 trillion to pay for stimulus packages and other costs related to the measures in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, “If the federal government was properly prepared for a crisis with a true rainy day fund, it would not have had to borrow money,” the report stated. 

Two recent spending proposals purported to fight domestic poverty and climate change from the Biden administration for the next fiscal year, amounting to more than $4 trillion in additional spending have met with criticism from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the GOP. McConnell recently released a statement saying, “While President Biden has prioritized spending trillions on liberal wish list priorities here at home, funding for America’s military is neglected.”

“China aspires to overtake America as the world’s dominant superpower. Over the past decade, China’s defense spending has increased by $200 billion, while America’s has decreased by $400 billion… If President Biden’s support for America’s military matched his zeal for spending at home, China would get nowhere close to overtaking us,” McConnell stated.

Political strategist and Democrat cohort Jim Manley told Epoch Times, “At some point, both parties are going to have to have a serious negotiation regarding the need to get our fiscal house in better order, and that includes both taxes and spending, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon because our politics are just too toxic.”

Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) President David Williams told Epoch Times, “A debt of $123 trillion should be a wake-up call for the country. The bill is coming due very soon, which could have dire consequences for taxpayers and the country.”

Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) rebuked Democrat spending in a recent press release stating that it would result in “Borrowing from the Chinese Communist Party while taking trillions out of the economy and out of the pockets of the American people for Washington Democrats to spend as they see fit.”

Smith continued, “This spending agenda is about giving Washington more power and influence to interfere in the lives and livelihoods of America’s working class. And Washington Democrats are demanding their agenda be passed as quickly as possible – likely through another purely partisan exercise – precisely so they can get everything done before Americans have time to notice what’s really going on here.”