In the 2003 Trustees Report, the present value of the difference between the system’s revenues and expenditures over the next 75 years is projected to be $4.9 trillion. Including the $1.4 trillion trust fund as an offsetting asset, or dedicated funding source, lowers this unfunded obligation to $3.5 trillion. New this year is an estimate of the infinite horizon unfunded obligation. That number is a whopping $11.9 trillion without the trust fund or $10.5 with the trust fund offset.

The 100-year closed-group Medicare unfunded liability is $13 trillion, the accrued debt is $16.9 trillion, and the perpetuity unfunded obligation is $38.3 trillion. Because of the expectation of rising medical care spending, future participants are a significant net burden on Medicare. Their benefits will exceed their tax payments by more than $25 trillion. Summing over current and future participants, Medicare debt exceeds the accrued Social Security debt by more than three to one.

* Taxpayers will face an estimated $29.7 tril­lion in unfunded Medicare liabilities. Accord­ing to the latest Medicare Trustees Report, the estimated total of unfunded Medicare benefits increased by $2 trillion in just one year.

* Taxpayers will pay trillions of dollars to cover the Medicare drug costs. The latest Medicare trustees’ estimate of unfunded drug entitlement liabilities alone is $8.7 trillion over a 75-year period.

* Taxpayers will pay an increasing share of their income taxes just to keep Medicare afloat. Under current law and assumptions, Dr. Thomas Saving, a former Medicare public trustee (his term expired after the 2005 Trust­ees Report was issued), estimates that the pro­gram will consume 25 percent of all federal income taxes by 2020 and 50 percent of all federal income taxes by 2040.

Edwards plan adds between $6.75 and $9 trillion (using his estimates) in the same amount of time. I'd love Edwards to sit down and explain how he is going to avoid a fiscal disaster while adding to the liability. Yeah, a tax increase will garner some revenue, but unless he is going to impose a 90% tax rate like that bastard FDR...well, Edwards is off his rocker.