February 13, 2010
Many in Washington must have breathed a sigh of relief in 2008 when then-Comptroller General David Walker announced he was stepping down as head of the General Accountability Office, after ten years at the helm. The GAO, the nonpartisan auditing arm of Congress, may be the most authoritative (and, in some cases, feared) source of information on how government manages (and frequently mismanages) tax dollars. The agency only grew in stature and influence during Walker’s transformative tenure.
But rather than opt for a quiet retirement, Walker continues his crusade for fiscal responsibility and accountability as President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, where he spends his time thinking, lecturing and writing about the country’s fiscal woes. His latest book is “Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility,” published in January by Random House. LLO recently caught up with Walker, between stops on his book tour, to get an up-to-date assessment of where things stand on the fiscal front.
Although the federal government’s “addiction” to spending and debt is far from broken, Walker reports seeing a growing recognition, at least outside the Washington Beltway – in what Walker calls “the real world” -- that our current spending and borrowing habits are unsustainable. Reducing federal spending will require that states step up and carry a greater share of the burden, which could result in tax hikes, according to Walker. He says the most recent healthcare proposal before Congress will only make matters worse.
“The current health care reform proposals do not pass the Peterson Foundation's four pronged test for fiscal responsibility,” he tells LLO. "In particular, they don't reduce overall health care costs as a percentage of the economy, and they don't make meaningful progress in addressing the tens of trillions in unfunded health care promises that the federal government currently has. Government is once again wanting to make more promises when it can't afford the ones it has already made.”
Read LLO's entire interview with David Walker here.
