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MOUNTAIN OF DEBT: Rising debt may be next crisis

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If things can't be turned around, including establishing a more efficient health care system, "We are on an utterly unsustainable fiscal course," said the White House budget director, Peter Orszag.

Some budget-restraint activists claim even the debt understates the nation's true liabilities.

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, established by a former commerce secretary and investment banker, argues that the $11.4 trillion debt figures does not take into account roughly $45 trillion in unlisted liabilities and unfunded retirement and health care commitments.

That would put the nation's full obligations at $56 trillion, orroughly $184,000 per American, according to this calculation.

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On the Net:

Treasury Department "to the penny" national debt breakdown: http://tinyurl.com/yrxrsh

Peter G. Peterson Foundation independent assessment of the national debt: http://www.pgpf.org/

"Deficits do Matter" debt clock: http://tinyurl.com/l6mvjb

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July 04, 2009 04:36 AM EDT

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