I.O.U.S.A - Addison Wiggin [13]
government ’ s income liabilities and future obligations and con-investigative arm of cluded that our current standard of living is unsustainable unless the U.S. Congress
some drastic action is taken . . . and he ’ s not alone. ”
and is in the
In his capacity as the comptroller general of the United legislative branch
of government.
States, David Walker was head of the U.S. Government It exists to help
Accountability Offi ce, better known as the GAO. The offi ce is improve the
in the legislative branch of government and, as Walker stated in performance and
the documentary I.O.U.S.A , is charged with “ improving trans-accountability
of the federal
parency, enhancing government performance, and assuring government for
accountability for the benefi t of the American people. ”
the benefi t of
Three months before the
60 Minutes episode aired,
the American
we ’ d had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Walker and people, according
came to see that we shared similar concerns for the state of to its most
recent mission
the economy. Over the next year of fi lming and producing statement. At the
I.O.U.S.A., we talked to him in numerous locations around helm of the GAO
the country. This fi rst interview was at his offi ce at the GAO in is the Comptroller
Washington, D.C.
General of the
“ I was set to be career military, ” says Mr. Walker. “ I had United States,
which is a 15-year
appointments to the Naval and Air Force Academies but I position appointed
couldn ’ t go at the last minute because I had a bad left ear by the President.
and it kept me out of my military career. I knew it was only c01.indd 18
8/26/08 8:41:09 PM
Chapter 1 The Real State of the Union 19
a matter of time before I decided to serve my country in some way. And I ’ ve been fortunate to have three presidential appointments — one from Reagan, one from Bush 41, and this one from Clinton. It ’ s been a pleasure and an honor to serve my country. ”
Today, however, for Mr. Walker, service to his country includes issuing a dire warning. “ We
suffer from a fi scal cancer, ” he asserted “We suffer from a fi scal cancer,”
Walker asserted on CBS’s 60 Min-
on 60 Minutes . “ It is growing within utes. “It is growing within us and us and if we do not treat it, it could if we do not treat it, it could have have catastrophic consequences for catastrophic consequences for our our country. ”
country.”
Fiscal cancer? Sounds grave.
What ’ s he talking about?
Let ’ s see. When we began making the fi lm the federal debt was $8.7 trillion, and as mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, that number is growing daily at a rapid rate.
With a number this big, it helps to compare it to the overall size of America ’ s economy, or what economists call the gross domestic product (GDP). In February 2007, when our federal debt was $8.7 trillion, our GDP was around $13.5 trillion Gross Domestic
Product (GDP):
in size. That meant that our federal debt was about 64 percent The total market of our GDP. This level of debt to GDP ratio is not the real value of goods and problem. It ’ s where we are headed that matters.
services produced
“ In addition, ” David Walker says, “ as you ’ ll fi nd out soon, by labor and this $8.7 trillion number is just a fraction of our fi scal chal- property located within a country
lenge. And it ’ s projected to get much worse in the future. ”
in a given year.
But Walker isn
’ t banging on his fi scal responsibility When talking about drum alone. There are others like him who see an economic how much debt a disaster of epic proportions waiting for the United States just country owes, it around the corner, and who are passionate about alerting is often helpful to look at the debt-to-the American people. Take Bob Bixby, for example, who is the GDP ratio. What a executive director of the Concord Coalition. We fi rst met country produces Mr. Bixby in his offi ce at the Concord Coalition headquarters is indicative of the in Washington, D.C. “ Our current fi scal path is unsustain-