Underlying the uproar over health care reform and many other issues is the question of how the U.S. can sustain its ever-increasing debt. Unofficial projections do not bode well, but none has ever been presented by the federal government in an auditable form under a set of standards. Rep. James Cooper, D-Tenn., who served on the FASAB task force that researched the standard, is guardedly optimistic about its consequences. "Including a statement of fiscal sustainability into the financial report is a step in the right direction," Cooper said. "I'm proud of the members of FASAB for coming to consensus on this. If we're ever going to get a handle on our $56 trillion fiscal gap, we need to be more honest about how we account for it. I hope they can take the next step and begin treating our social insurance promises to Social Security and Medicare as liabilities in our national balance sheet — our accrued debt."
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