7 trillion / 75 on the other hand is less than 100 billion a year. There are some other ongoing programs I could mention to put that number in perspective. Als

7 trillion / 75 on the other hand is less than 100 billion a year. There are some other ongoing programs I could mention to put that number in perspective. Also, while Social Security may be short now (or in the first break-even year, 2013 or so depending on who you ask, but even then the program won't be broke, it will just be spending more than it receives) for demographic reasons it will be long later for the same demographic reasons. The larger problem of debt forecasting over an even shorter time horizon (remember when we had a ten-year surplus of trillions, at the end of Clinton's second term) makes me dubious that even your 7 trillion number will be accurate.