Thursday, January 15, 2009

$59 trillion in the hole?

This can't be right ... but maybe it is. From a press release:

CHICAGO-AREA GROUP'S "FINANCIAL STATE OF THE UNION" REVEALS NATION'S TRUE DEBT NUMBERS

Institute for Truth in Accounting again calls for Congress to face the truth about our nation's finances

Chicago - Today, the Institute for Truth in Accounting released its annual "Financial State of the Union," and the numbers are not good and they are getting worse every day. America's share of our nation's financial hole is now $59 trillion - each of us owes $194,400.

"We can fix this problem, if everyone in the U.S. sends all of their assets-their value in their houses, cars, investments-to the federal government," said Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of the Institute for Truth in Accounting (IFTA). She continued, "Then the government would have to make investments that would earn a high enough rate of return to fund all of the promises that have been made."

"As the people of this country inaugurate their new president next week, and as the 111th Congress begins, it is imperative the truthful condition of our nation's finances be revealed," said Roger Nelson, Chairman of IFTA's Board of Directors. He highlighted, "The truth is together with unfunded liabilities and promises to our retirees we're in the hole for over $59 trillion. We need to understand this truth before we can move forward with any new proposals."

The Financial State of the Union, available at http://www.truthinaccounting.org/, provides this accounting by outlining the financial situation of the nation, including unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare and other retirement benefits. The report, which is available in a one-page, downloadable PDF format, is designed to draw attention to our true financial situation at such a critical time as our President-Elect's first address.

"Debt has become our country's drug of choice, personally and nationally, and until we are honest with ourselves about how much we really owe, we can't begin to solve this problem," warned Weinberg. "Treasury and the politicians say our nation's debt is only $10.6 trillion, which assumes we owe no promises benefits to our seniors."

The IFTA is the sponsor of www.TruthIn2008.org, a national campaign to bring awareness to our nation's pressing financial issues. The IFTA is currently preparing for the launch of TruthIn2010.org. For more information, contact Darlene Porteus at 847-835-5200 or visit www.TruthInAccounting.org.

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