U.S. Heading For Financial Trouble?

Comptroller Says Medicare Program Endangers Financial Stability

(CBS)  This segment was originally broadcast on March 4, 2007. It was updated on July 8, 2007.

When the stock market soars or plunges, everyone pays attention. But short term results aren't that important to the man you're about to meet. David Walker thinks the biggest economic peril facing the nation is being ignored, and for nearly two years now he has been traveling the country like an Old Testament prophet, urging people to wake up before its too late. Who is David Walker and why should we care?

As correspondent Steve Kroft first reported earlier this year, he is the nation's top accountant, the comptroller general of the United States. He's totaled up our government's income, liabilities, and future obligations and concluded that our current standard of living is unsustainable unless some drastic action is taken. And he's not alone. It's been called the "dirty little secret everyone in Washington knows" - a set of financial truths so inconvenient that most elected officials don't even want to talk about them, which is exactly why David Walker does.

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"I would argue that the most serious threat to the United States is not someone hiding in a cave in Afghanistan or Pakistan but our own fiscal irresponsibility," Walker tells Kroft.

David Walker is a prudent man and a highly respected public official. As comptroller general of the United States he runs he Government Accountability Office, the GAO, which audits the government's books and serves as the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress. He has more than 3,000 employees, a budget of a half a billion dollars, and a message he considers urgent.

"I'm going to show you some numbers…they’re all big and they’re all bad," he says.

So bad, that Walker has given up on elected officials and taken his message directly to taxpayers and opinion makers, hoping to shape the debate in the next presidential election.

"You know the American people, I tell you, they are absolutely starved for two things: the truth, and leadership," Walker says.

He calls it a fiscal wake up tour, and he is telling civic groups, university forums and newspaper editorial boards that the U.S. has spent, promised, and borrowed itself into such a deep hole it will be unable to climb out if it doesn’t act now. As Walker sees it, the survival of the republic is at stake.

"What’s going on right now is we’re spending more money than we make…we’re charging it to credit card…and expecting our grandchildren to pay for it. And that’s absolutely outrageous," he told the editorial board of the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

You have heard this before, from Ross Perot 15 years ago. You might have even thought the problem had been solved, when President Clinton announced, "Tonight, I come before you to announce that the federal deficit … will be simply zero."

"Well, those days are gone. We've gone from surpluses to huge deficits and our long range situation is much worse," Walker says.

"President Bush would argue that the economy is in pretty good shape, unemployment is down, the deficit is actually less than expected," Kroft remarks.

"The fact is, is that we don't face an immediate crisis. And, so people say, 'What's the problem?' The answer is, we suffer from a fiscal cancer. It is growing within us. And if we do not treat it, it could have catastrophic consequences for our country," Walker replies.

The cancer, Walker says, are massive entitlement programs we can no longer afford, exacerbated by a demographic glitch that began more than 60 years ago, a dramatic spike in the fertility rate called the "baby boom."

[llongo3]

The remarks made by Comptroller Walker regarding the Financial Crisis the U.S. faces were interesting.

However, perhaps he should consider the 1.5 Billion dollars a day that the U.S. is currently spending on the War in Iraq as another source for the "crisis", and ask how funds that keep this war ongoing should be diverted to allay the cost for healthcare in the United States today.

[weareone2]

This problem is being made worse by companies committing age discrimination, which forces people to take early social security in order to survive.
For the last couple of years, there has been an improvement in the ability of older people to get jobs in IT for which they have experience, because of the number of people retiring.
But business wants Congress to remove all limits on the number of foreign visas. Then they will be able to go back to rampant age discrimination. Anybody who thinks the laws against this make a difference, is not living in the real world. As human resource people will tell you, you can always find a reason not to hire someone.

[hziemba]

The only thing -more- disgusting is the fact that the media hasn't been confronting EVERY SINGLE politician who wants to be President, and asking them (cameras running) what their plan is to -repay- the national debt - not "reduce the deficit", but actually pay back what they borrowed. Ask them who is supposed to pay it back?

If they can't "afford" to live within our means, what makes them think that a future generation will be able to do so, AND pay back what they have borrowed?


This should be the lead story on the news shows every day, until the Congress comes up with a plan that guarantees that they won't spend more than they take in. For example, if they spend more in one year than they take in, just add that amount as an expense for the following year.

For more info on this, check out http://www.federalbudget.com/
VERY sobering!!!

[mdavis8667]

What ever your opinions about how this happened or what can be done, it is extremely important that you share this article with as many friends and relatives as possible. And send it to your congressmen! Be part of something important. We need a grass roots movement using the media, the web, e-mail, you-tube, whatever. We cannot depend on politicians to face this problem or even to warn people about it. Right now, millions and millions of baby boomers are making critical decisions about their retirement - when to retire, how much to save, etc. They all need to be aware of the facts. Please spread the word. Our politicians are busy arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The citizens of this country need to act as one to change the course and avoid the iceberg. The quality of life in our old age and the quality of our childrens' lives depends on us doing something now. Are we the greatest nation on earth or the biggest collection of folks with our heads in the sand?

[smchand]

Until the 2 gangs in the Republicrat party start working towards the good of our country instead of the good for themselves and how they "look" to others, this country will continue to fail. When the social system collapses, we will be living with bars on our home windows just like other 3rd world countries. We are a bankrupt nation and as a country, we will end up like Enron where the poor and middle class stockholders will lose all of their tools to live on while the 20% of wealthy people are left to fix the situation or move to another country to live. Our congress needs to be held accountable for these poor decisions. Pres. Bush is nothing without their support. The very first change has to be to separate Corporate from State. As a new country we feared the Church because of it's influence on government decisions. Well, Corporate America has taken their place putting forth the same type of results as the Church. Our congress is owned by the lobbyist with the most to offer. It is the main cause of our medical problems in this country. Our government steals so corporate america steals and now the fastest growing job for young people in this country is stealing. Beware of the sins of the father. Be prepared. Some very bad times are ahead of us. In our maker we will need to trust to get through this mess!!!

[lightacandle]

If it's not already too late, here is the matter actually worth fighting for. Where is the sign up post? Where is the strong truthful leader that caring rational people could follow - is it David Walker? Sure this is emotional but it's more to our very survival. It's not clear that our government can understand and tackle the problem without making it yet another self-serving short-sighted political opportunity. The implications for this are so far-reaching that everything is being sacrificed, and the rate of waste and loss is accelerating.

[brianbwb-2009]

Execute the corrupt.

China has the only answer that corrupt government officials will listen to...

[whatdoiknow5]

Our Government or lack there of, is so involved in other countries affairs and how it will affect the US or not, the officials become to worried about the others to realize what is happening in their own back yard. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM. Is there not something that says take care of your own before trying to save the world. Come on OFFICIALS, "Our children are our future" what future will they have if we dont give it to them, oh no we are too busy fighting wars that pertain to us but they dont really (sarcastically) I wonder how they sleep on their 5000 thread count sheets at night or how they decide what their children will study at Harvard when our children are dropping out of school and cant get college funding because they are not from another country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[whatdoiknow5]

SO this is what is looks like it will boil down to. All Americans or working people will continuously pay higher, ridiculous taxes pay for illegals to get SSI and Medicare and the people who worked for so many years to get these benefits will be denied; then other people will continue to pay into this fund but then as well open a second personal IRA and then pay another set of taxes for that. I say if an Individual has to pay for their retirement on their own then there is no cause for them to be paying into medicare and fica and all of that. Make the people who use it pay for it.

[whatdoiknow5]

So I am not the only one to notice the excess spending? Amazing, now what to do. Congress will not listen, The Governors, how about the Senators, who do you contact who do you have to help the Americans who want the change? Protest, no wait lets all write letters and see who will get an answer first? Anyone hear of the file 13, thats where all the letters anyone writes goes. So what can this so called all big, rich and powerful nations do? Who are the ones who listen to what the people want? Can anyone answer me this or do we just need to overthrow the Government?

[Lois B.]

I am 55 yrs. old & for as long as I have been able to understand about foreign aid I could not & do not understand it. In the process of my country trying to save the world it appears as if they are losing ours.

[sal567]

Okay, so we have identified the problem, does anyone offer a viable solution? And if that solution is workable, why don't we implement it right now? Aren't we supposed to be the most powerful nation on earth? Let's use that power, cut the talk and start the action. Where are our thinkers, our movers and shakers when we need them? They should start doing what needs to be done instead of just talking about it. Let's get moving and shaking before our beloved country collapses in ignominy.

[phb888]

There is no doubt that the US is in a deep financial hole and still digging, with enormous fiscal and trade deficits. However, it is ridiculous that no mention was made of the the main cause, namely the huge tax cuts and runaway spending on the Iraq War. The only solution offered was cutting social programs, which has always been the conservative strategy behind the fiscal deficit - "starving the beast" to dismantle the New Deal. The Comptroller is simply serving the true Bush agenda and, by not questioning him more aggressively, 60 Minutes gave him a free pass to do so.

[blueskies777]

First, I would like to say that I am 53 years old, and have been working my entire life (starting at the age of 18) and will most likely continue to work until I reach the age of 62. (I am sure I speak on behalf of most baby boomers with my commentary). When the time comes to retire, will I be out on the street because the country I placed my faith in betrayed me and took care of foreign interests? In comparison, it is safe to say it would be similar to hiring an accountant who did not have your best interests at heart. I have done everything asked of me as a U.S. citizen, and trust that my security will be there when the time comes for me to retire. Or, will I be homeless only to be thankful that I live in a country that looked out for the civilians in another country, while it left it's own out in the cold? I hope not!

[bearalumni]

I'm a military advisor in Iraq for an Iraqi battalion. I can say that we are giving money away, a hundred here, a couple hundred thousands, and up to five million dollars cash to local nationals who fit the definition of civil behavior every month. We also spend millions on CERP projects, essentially building them stuff that they turn in turn blow up. What bothers me is all the dough we are freely handing out to people who will stab us in the back when on the other our national budget is going up in flames.

[rita271]

The Iraq war is costing $12 billion per MONTH and we can't afford to fund Social Security and Medicare... Something is definitely wrong in Washington! This administration has taken a surplus and traded it in for a HUGE deficit. We owe billions of dollars to China. I am at a loss to know where to start, but bringing the troops home would be at least a beginning. Then we might be able to put money into the things that matter!

[ramos937]

I agree with a prior posting. The Comptroller General should be, by law, authorized to have some sort of veto power over congressional spending. He is appointed for 15 years so he would be immune to political pressure. I believe we have a similar system in Texas. The Comptroller General of Texas has to certify that sufficient funds will be available to meet congressional authorizations otherwise the budget goes back to the legislature.

We need to go to a similar system.

[brianbwb-2009]

(AP) China executed the former head of its food and drug watchdog agency Tuesday for allegedly approving untested medicine in exchange for cash, the strongest signal yet from Beijing that it is serious about tackling its product safety crisis.

Now thats what I call anti corruption! Wanna really solve our fiscal problems, this is how to do it right!

[dorothyblu2]

The larger and more powerful,& rich, a civilization is,the more likely the citizens are going to lose control of it,and it will become a dictatorship of a few.Read ancient history if you do not believe me.America is not the first to have this happen.In reality,being a big,rich,powerful nation is a curse.

[dorothyblu2]

60 Minutes is selling out,when we all KNOW the govt. has stolen,siphoned off,billions of bucks of social security,and pension money,for many years.THAT is why there is not enough money for boomers when they retire;the govt. stole it all,illegally,for their own pet projects.

Wise up,60 Minutes,how stupid do you think we are?Obviously a lot smarter than YOU are.You're listening to politicians,and govt. officials,and believing what they say.We all thought you were a lot smarter than to fall for that old"oh,moan,groan,the dog stole all that money,and ate it!Not your poor,innocent federal govt.!"