Cox and Archer: Why $16 Trillion Only Hints at the True U.S. Debt

This is why I think we are on the slippery slope and there is nothing to grasp.  They say that it isn't the fall that's so bad.  It's the sudden stop.

The actual liabilities of the federal government—including Social Security, Medicare, and federal employees' future retirement benefits—already exceed $86.8 trillion, or 550% of GDP. For the year ending Dec. 31, 2011, the annual accrued expense of Medicare and Social Security was $7 trillion. Nothing like that figure is used in calculating the deficit. In reality, the reported budget deficit is less than one-fifth of the more accurate figure.

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.