Your family owes the gov't $510,678 (plus interest)

Yep, that's what your household owes. You didn't think that all those social programs were free, did ya? That's your share of the $57,800,000,000,000 ($57.8 trillion) in unfunded obligations run up by our esteemed representatives in local, state, & federal gov't.

That amount has gone up about 20% just in the past couple years, and is increasing at the rate of about $25,000 per household, per year. How much does your household make?

As first reported in USA Today and covered in Liberator Online, here's what you're shelling out for:

Program..................................Liability per household

Medicare.................................$263,377
Social Security..........................$133,456
Federal debt.............................$42,538
Military retirement benefits.............$25,443
State-local debt.........................$16,395
Federal employee retirement benefits.....$14,256
State-local retirement benefits..........$13,257
Other federal............................$1,956

Total....................................$510,678 per household

Expect costs for Medicare & SS to balloon even more within the next 5 years as the Baby Boomer generation retires & gets cranky. Sheesh, this gives a whole new meaning to "Baby Boomer"!

This is, needless to say, unsustainable in the long term without some very drastic benefit cuts and/or tax hikes. If we move to a socialized medicine system, as seems at least somewhat likely the next time the Dems are in control, expect things to get that much worse, that much sooner.

We could, of course, cut most of our losses now, by privatizing SS and switching to medical savings accounts (MSA's). Unfortunately, that would require two things that Congress is sorely lacking in: brains and courage.

I was born in 1971, and if I continue to live a fairly healthy life and don't meet an untimely end, I might expect to possibly live to see the year 2050. While I eagerly look forward to the advances in science & technology that should happen in that time frame, I am beginning more and more to fear for the political and economic future of this country. As an optimist though, I have faith in human ingenuity, but we may still be facing much unnecessary pain and hardships in the coming decades. We'll see.