I mean that in the sense of “bad news”.
Craig Cantoni points me to the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government in which we learn:
The Government’s net operating cost and budget deficit both more than doubled during FY 2008. Chart 1 shows that the net operating cost increased from $276 billion in FY 2007 to just over $1 trillion in FY 2008, and the budget deficit jumped to $455 billion, compared with a deficit of $163 billion in FY 2007.
[. . .]
If the Government is to retain the ability to manage a financial crisis such as the
one today, it must eventually address the long-term fiscal imbalance resulting from Social Security, Medicare, and
Medicaid. The Government’s fiscal policies for these programs as currently structured are not sustainable. Without
changes, spending for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid would permanently and dramatically increase the
Government’s budget deficit and debt, leading eventually to renewed financial and economic instability.
An Unsustainable Fiscal Path
The projected growth in entitlement spending under current law – chiefly for Social Security, Medicare, and
Medicaid – will ultimately affect every citizen in the nation. Continued growth in health care costs is expected
to cause government spending for its major health programs to grow faster than both the economy and Federal
revenues over the next 75 years2 .
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