Unfunded liabilities include the "promises" the US gov't has made but doesn't have to pay just yet - social security, medicare, medicaid, etc. Basically, this

Unfunded liabilities include the "promises" the US gov't has made but doesn't have to pay just yet - social security, medicare, medicaid, etc. Basically, this means if the US gov't shuts down all operations and just pays what it already promised to pay (equivalent to closing a credit card with a balance but still having a balance to pay that you "promised" to pay), it will still end up paying $25 trillion in money already borrowed plus $144 trillion to the benefactors of SS, Medicare, Medicaid, etc until they die.