When Will We Take The Budget Deficit Seriously?

Add the GAO to the chorus of government and outside experts warning about the dangers of federal government deficit spending. Congress, and the President, are on a spending spree that cannot be sustained. Ask federal candidates about the budget before November -- don't expect to see anything in their commercials.

September 2006, GAO:
Under any reasonable set of expectations about future spending and revenues, the risks posed to the Nation's future financial condition are too high to be acceptable... the longer action to deal with the Nation's long-term fiscal outlook is delayed, the greater the risk that the eventual changes will be disruptive and destabilizing.

November 2005, US Comptroller
The nation's comptroller, David Walker, has a different view, asserting that the fiscal reality "is worse than advertised... The facts are not partisan and they're not ideological." He asserted that the nation has a "leadership deficit" when it comes to the budget. "The nation's unfunded liabilities and commitments ... have risen from $20 trillion in 2000 to approximately $50 trillion today -- equivalent to the entire net worth of all Americans."

October 2005, Heritage Foundation
There is not much courage out there. They will go whichever way the wind is blowing on a lot of these issues. And if they're not hearing it from the grassroots, and they're not hearing any pressure, they're going to focus on the political calendar, they're not going to focus on the long term...Like an alcoholic, the first thing you have to do it admit you have a problem ... The flip side of it is, Americans are vehemently opposed to every possible solution.

September 2005, Cato Institute
... throughout the past 40 years, most presidents have cut or restrained lower-priority spending to make room for higher-priority spending. What is driving George W. Bush's budget bloat is a reversal of that trend.

February 2005, GAO
Absent policy changes on the spending and/or revenue sides of the budget, a growing imbalance between expected federal spending and tax revenues will mean escalating and ultimately unsustainable federal deficits and debt that serve to threaten our future national security as well as the standard of living for the American people.

Also, see Gross US National Debt, Spending Our Way To Financial Ruin, A Sea of Red Ink: Domestic and Foreign Checks.

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