Medicare

We all agree on the facts: the national debt is closing in on $13 trillion and our fiscal practices have been irresponsible for years.

Here's a measure of both how important Social Security is and the problems it faces: the program will actually run a deficit over the next two years because fewer people are paying in and more are applying for benefits.

The official federal deficit numbers won't be out until next week, but based on this AP story we can already anticipate one point of confusion that makes it harder for the public to deal with this issue.

Fortune magazine's cover story on Social Security is today's must-read budget article, and while you can quarrel with their stance that the program will need a "bailout," the story makes a vital point, which is that Social Security's troubles are much closer than most people think

Anyone who's even remotely following the narrative impact of our current economic woes on the deficit should be well aware that our government is living way beyond its means. And in fact, it was living way beyond its means in debt and liabilities even before this economic crisis began.

President Obama's announcement that he'll support so-called "pay as you go" legislation is getting most of the coverage today, but if you care about the federal deficit and national debt,

There's no shortage of depressing numbers in the news today, but one set of numbers in particular deserves to be flagged.

The economic crisis is taking its toll on all sorts of things, and it turns out Social Security and Medicare are no different.

As the projections for the national debt keep going worse and worse, a lot of people are probably wondering one thing: Can we really get away with this?

At least you can't say the federal budget is a back-burner issue anymore. With President Obama projecting an unprecedented $1.75 trillion deficit and proposing significant changes in taxes and spending, you couldn't ignore the nation's budget problems if you tried.