One says $43 trillion, the other $53 trillion, but who's counting?

We're either in super-duper debt or mega-atomic debt. Glenn Beck reviews "The $53 trillion asteroid" heading our way:

Let me give you three numbers that will put this economic asteroid into perspective: $200 billion, $14.1 trillion, and $53 trillion:

- $200 billion is the approximate total amount of write-downs announced so far as a result of the current credit crisis.
- $14.1 trillion is the size of the entire U.S. economy
And $53 trillion is (drum roll please) the approximate size of this country's bill for the Social Security and Medicare promises we've made.

If Washington takes action to reform entitlements, the impact can be spread out over decades instead of slamming us all at once. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. From the Christian Science Monitor: "Congress in no rush to fix Medicare and Social Security - A new report projects a $42.9 trillion shortfall for the two entitlement programs over the next 75 years."

To put it another way: It would take an immediate 122 percent increase in the payroll tax (to 6.44 percent) or a 51 percent reduction in program outlays to bring Medicare into balance, the trustees said.

That's the current (immediate!) impact just to cover the long-term liabilities of Medicare and Social Security. As we fall further behind, it's going to take much more drastic actions down the road to cover this debt.