The Debt No One Wants to Talk About

David Walker is the nation’s comptroller general, an auditor-in-chief if you will. The Comptroller General is appointed for a 15 year term and is a non-partisan, ideologically independent post.

For the past few years, Walker has been on a mission to explain to Congress, and anyone else who will listen, that the United States is on the road to fiscal ruin. In 2005 he wrote an article titled, “The Debt No One Wants to Talk About,” in which he laid out some of the fundamental problems with the way Washington spends our money:

The current system of federal financial reporting provides an unrealistic and even misleading picture of the government’s overall performance and financial condition. Few agencies adequately show the results they are getting with the taxpayer dollars they spend, and too many significant government commitments and obligations are not fully disclosed.

But how big a hole are we in, really? Walker writes:

The federal government’s gross debt was about trillion last September [it is now over trillion], which works out to about $24,000 for every man, woman, and child in this country. But that number excludes items like the gap between the government’s Social Security and Medicare commitments and the money put aside to pay for them. If these items are factored in, the burden for every American rises to well over $100,000.

With such excellent news to share, it is hardly surprising no one wants to listen. Except for Ron Paul, the presidential candidates avoid this subject like the plague.

Simply put, paying for accumulated obligations could bankrupt the nation, undermining everyone’s economic stability and standard of living. And yet all we hear on the radio, read in the newspaper or see on the television are plans for the government to spend more not less money. Hillary has a $100 billion health care plan. Bill Richardson has an astronomical costly education plan. Rudy wants to invade half the planet –which is sure to cost a pretty penny.

Part of the reason Ron Paul’s campaign has attracted a large following among 20 to 40 year olds is that they have long known there will be no social security for them. They know the system is bankrupt and whatever is available will go to their baby boomer parents. They recognize Paul is telling them the truth and providing a way out: spend less, cut taxes, bring the troops home, pull out of foreign nations, and establish a sound monetary policy to keep the Federal Reserve from inflating away their retirement savings.

Generations X and Y (or whatever the names are nowadays) are responding to Paul’s message of liberty because they know only their hard work and initiative will secure a prosperous future -government programs just aren’t going to get the job done. This disenchantment with the status quo and Paul's call for a return to liberty and responsibity is fueling Paul’s popularity.

Hopefully, the boomers will wake up to both Mr. Walker’s and Rep. Paul’s messages in time. Otherwise, this nation is headed for a major crack-up.