They have a complete and total obligation to let the weapons inspectors back in any time, any place, anywhere.
In his mind, apparently, you can just add up the two figures into a new hybrid column, perhaps called, Total Obligation to Society, and make yourself look even more generous.
In a conference call with investors, Mr. Ebbers said that he now owed WorldCom $339.7 million on two loans, and that WorldCom had guaranteed an additional $35 million loan, bringing his total obligation to the company to $374.7 million.
Bear Stearns research analyst H. Peter Nesvold reiterated an "underperform" rating on Ford Motor after Saturday's UAW announcement that it reached a tentative agreement on healthcare that reduces Ford's total obligation by 20%, amortized over seven years.
In return for the revisions, US Airways made an early payment of $250 million in cash, reducing its total obligation to $725 million.
A preliminary analysis by the State of Alabama estimated the total obligation for providing retiree health insurance at $11 billion.
But because the total obligation is not currently disclosed, it is nearly impossible to get an accurate reading on the size of the problem.
Mr. Stein, the taxpayer advocate, said his own calculations put taxpayers' total obligation over the next 50 years at more than $10 billion just for projects that have already been approved.
It considers their value not as the total obligation, but as "contingent liabilities" — meaning what it expects it could possibly lose.
Officials in Texas argue that having to disclose the state's total obligation — roughly estimated around $50 billion — could bring pressure to cut benefits.
