Washington swindlers mask true U.S. debt, which has grown from 33% of GDP in 1980 to 92% of GDP today, and is scheduled to explode even higher

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US Government 'hiding true amount of debt'
(NewsCore) -- by Gregory Bresiger --

THE actual figure of the US' national debt is much higher than the official sum of $US 13.4 trillion given by the Congressional Budget Office, according to analysts cited on Sunday by the New York Post.

"The Government is lying about the amount of debt. It is engaging in Enron accounting," said Laurence Kotlikoff, an economist at Boston University and co-author of The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future.

"The problem is we're seeing an explosion in spending," added Andrew Moylan, director of government affairs for the National Taxpayers Union.

In 1980, the debt - the accumulated red ink incurred by the Federal Government - was $US 909 billion.

This represented some 33 per cent of gross domestic product, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Thirty years later, based on this year's second-quarter numbers, the CBO said the debt was $US 13.4 trillion, or 92 per cent of GDP.

The CBO estimates the debt will be at $US 16.5 trillion in two years, or 100.6 per cent of GDP.

But these numbers are incomplete.

They do not count off-budget obligations such as required spending for Social Security and Medicare, whose programs represent a balloon payment for the Government as more Americans retire and collect benefits...MORE...LINK