Government's top watchdog warns of a coming catastrophe

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A Fiscal ‘Tsunami’The government's top watchdog warns of a coming catastrophe

David Walker can sound like a modern-day prophet of doom, warning about the gross irresponsibility of his countrymen and the disaster that awaits them if nothing is done. Put a scraggly beard on him, replace the neatly pressed suit with a tattered frock, and you could drop a coin in his cup and walk on by. But Walker is frighteningly sane.

A former partner at Arthur Andersen LLP, he has been the comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office since he was appointed to a 15-year term in 1998. The GAO is a nonpartisan agency that investigates, on behalf of Congress, how the government is performing. It then issues thoroughly researched and often critical reviews.

If the federal government is not spending taxpayers' money effectively, it's Walker's job to holler. He's hollering now—mainly about a severe fiscal crisis that will strike the United States as baby boomers reach retirement age. His fears are supported by economists from the left-leaning Brookings Institution and the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Newsweek interview:

NEWSWEEK: You have likened the situation here in the United States to the fall of the Roman Republic. Do you foresee the decline and fall of the United States?

David Walker: I don't believe that the United States will decline and fall, but I think it's important that we wake up and recognize that we are seeing some of the same warning signs that existed with the Roman Republic. There are many people who think the United States is the longest-standing republic in the history of mankind, and that's not true. Rome lasted over double the period of time that we have existed so far, and it is important that we make tough choices to make sure that we are the first republic to stand the test of time.

Walker's effort to sound the alarm has been remarkable.

[Toots]

1. A former partner at Arthur Andersen LLP

Wasn't that the accounting firm that managed Enron's finances?

[kickysnana]

2. Arthur Anderson Consulting bait and switch software...

scammed 3M, Republic Airlines, U of MN, State of MN etal. They low ball. Send in a team of workers who say well you didn't pay for this to actually work do you want it to? That will be double or triple. Deadlines would pass. Eventually the payee would catch on throw them out and pay again to get the software they needed.

Huge team of lawyers to keep the payee from suing.Somehow linked to phoney "rating' agencies that if you didn't pay thousands of dollars they would rate you down. Scared the heck out of the little companies trying to get established. Probably put spyware on the system while they were there.

This guy has a minus credibility. He has an agenda and it isn't America.

[slor]

3. Yep...it sure was n/t

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4. Yes that is the accounting firm.

Walker has been on a nationwide tour putting the facts about runaway government spending before the public. Fiscal responsibility, transparency in accounting and budgeting must become a priority.