MUST READ: CBO Releases Budget Outlook Paints ‘Daunting’ Picture

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Long-Term 2011 Budget Outlook Report, Wednesday, with dire projections for the nation's fiscal future if the current path is not changed. The CBO called its budget outlook "daunting."

Under current law, federal spending will continue to soar and an aging populations will increasingly draw funds from programs like Medicare and Social Security. According to the new report, in order to prevent the debt from becoming unsustainable, revenues need to increase and spending needs to be cut from projected levels. (CBO, Pelosi unclear on Obamacare's Medicaid "glitch" costs)

One of the more dire figures in Wednesday's report is the CBO's projection that by the end of 2011, federal debt will reach approximately 70 percent of gross domestic product - the highest level it has been since the end of World War II.

The report also says that under current law, the aging population combined with rising health care costs will cause spending on health programs like Medicare, and Social Security, to rise to 15 percent of GDP in 25 years. Right now, that spending is 10 percent of GDP. To put that number in perspective, over the last 40 years, all government spending, except for interest payments on the debt, has averaged 18.5 percent of GDP.