I saw this chart at an NPR blog and thought it worth repeating. 

Here is their comment: 

In the debt-ceiling negotiations, politicians are debating how to reduce the federal deficit by $2 trillion to $4 trillion over the next 10 years.

One number that hasn't been mentioned much: $13 trillion. That's size of the federal deficit over the next 10 years, according to a recent projection from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Of course, this is just a projection. And there's always a lot of uncertainty in any economic prediction, particularly one that tries to look a decade into the future.

Still, given that the deficit-reduction plans being hashed out in Washington are supposed to play out over the next decade, $13 trillion seems like a useful bit of context. It suggests the current fight over the deficit is just the beginning.

Yes this is a problem that we have been building up to for at least 40 years. the deficit will get worse and worse as America's baby boomers get older. Since we have a dysfunctional medical system, that is where the focus soon will be. 

Look at the two circles. the problem is huge, but the solutions offered are meager.