THE ANSWER IS ‘FOUR’. Math government style. QUESTION? Does $549B minus $260.8B = 4 more years? The American Action Forum reports: “In 2011, Medicare spent $549.1 billion on medical services for America’s seniors but only collected $260.8 billion in payroll taxes and monthly premiums. Trustees have now issued a funding warning for 7 straight years.” The bottom line is “....the cash shortfall is responsible for over one-fourth of the federal debt accumulated since 2001.” Your answer probably was: WE LOST $288.2 BILLION DOLLARS! But the Obama administrations sees it as only a chance to manipulate, fudge and obscure the numbers to get FOUR MORE YEARS OF OBAMA. Simply put, one Ponzi scheme to hide another Ponzi scheme is the normal mode of a too big government.