The Washington Times printed a rather wonky editorial today about the OMB midsession review, but there are a couple important points about entitlement program reform that should not be missed. 

1. The $4.7 trillion unfunded obligation in Social Security is actually $6.7 trillion.  That is, the Social Security program will, over the course of the next 75 years, be short in paying full benefits by $6.7 trillion.

2. The unfunded liabilities in Medicare add up to $33.9 trillion, which means that the total unfunded liabilites in present value for Social Security and Medicare are $40.6 trillion.

How much money is $40.6 trillion?  The Washington Times puts the figure in perspective:

$40.6 trillion is more than three times last year's gross domestic product; 220 percent higher than the total market capitalization ($12.7 trillion as of March 31) of America's 500 biggest corporations; nearly five times the national debt ($8.8 trillion); eight times the publicly held debt ($5 trillion); and nearly 75 percent of the total net worth of U.S. households and nonprofit organizations ($56.2 trillion).