entitlements

There are 61.9 trillion reasons why college students should have a burning interest in the federal budget deficit and national debt, but how do you get them thinking ab

One of the biggest problems in getting Americans engaged on the nation's fiscal challenges is that the problem is so hard for most people to get their arms around. The numbers are so huge, the issues so arcane and the problems so daunting that people may get angry about it, but have no idea how to grab onto it.

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.

We've already posed the question of "Where does the money go?" but what does the federal government do when the money doesn't show up in the first place?

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

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.