The Carpetbagger Report: Playing by White House rules, Bush is bankrupting the government: It's always been a ridiculous claim, but using White House definitions, the system will be “bankrupt” when liabilities outnumber assets. Social Security, in other words, will be bankrupt — in Bush's mind — because it may be unable to meet all of its obligations at some point down the road.
And, as the great Carpetbagger notes, if you define 'bankruptcy' as 'cash flow out exceeds cash flow in' or 'cash flow flow out exceeds cash flow in plus assets on hand' then the US government, GWB proprietor, is 'bankrupt'.
Um… I’m pretty sure that the U.S. gov’t’s “cash flow in plus assets on hand” is greater than its “cash flow out.” The fed gov’t tends to own a lot of land, buildings, military hardware, etc.
I should point out that I was only thinking of a single year’s deficit, not an extended deficit over time, which indeed might eventually exceed “cash flow in plus assets on hand.”