GAO chief sounds alarm bells on debt

[DustMolecule]

GAO chief sounds alarm bells on debt

By Patrice Hill
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 16, 2004

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General Accounting Office chief David M. Walker, who has raised the profile of his agency by warning about the dire consequences of spiraling government debt, said yesterday that the public and Congress remain oblivious to the serious financial crunch that is looming with the retirement of the baby boomers.

"The public has no idea how big the problem is," he said, estimating that $43 trillion in unfunded Social Security, Medicare and other retirement benefits promised to baby boomers will drive the government into insolvency by 2040 unless Congress moves quickly. The oldest among the baby boomers — defined as those born in the years immediately after WWII — begin retiring in 2008.

<snip>

Mr. Walker said he took the unusual step of speaking out about deficits — something not done by previous directors of the low-profile General Accounting Office — because, as the official auditor of the government's books, he felt he had a duty to warn the public about the government's increasingly shaky finances.

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The Defense Department's budget is in such a state of chaos, he said he has refused to sign off on the Pentagon's audit and would give the government's largest agency a "D-minus" for transparency and accountability to the public.

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/business/20040415-105755-3366r.htm

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This is from April 16, 2004 - I didn't see it posted. Hope it's not a duplicate.

[SharonAnn]

1. So, they think they're going to cut the benefits of working

people and baby-boomers when they retire.

I don't think that will work, people will rise up in outrage when they find out they're supposed to receive less because the extra they paid in to the trust funds has been given to the wealthy and so there's none left for us.

Talk about class warfare!

I think they'll need to take a look at making the income tax more progressive, raise corporate taxes and eliminate their loopholes, increase the tax on dividends, and put a tax surcharge on the top 1-2%.

And, of course, CLEAN UP THE DEFENSE BUDGET! It's a trough for special interests.

[BostonTeaParty04]

2. They should research how many of those boomers

couldn't possibly retire -- even WITH full ss benefits!

Like me... most people will be working till the day we die. Ahhh, the American way of life...