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Political Factoid
The U.S. government measures its deficit
using a form of "cash accounting" that
includes Social Security surpluses as
revenue and does not factor in accruals.
- The cash-basis deficit for 2010
was about $1.3 trillion.
- The same number calculated by
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
would be more on the order of $2.1 trillion.
... and even much higher if one were to include
credible actuarial assumptions for unfunded
Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid liabilities.
This cash accounting method has been used for a
number of decades to enable Congress to steal the money
taxpayers have been depositing into the social security fund.
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