The head of the GAO (Government Accountability Office) David Walker has announced his resignation (effective 3/12/08). Mr. Walker has been speaking out about the amount of debt that the US government is accumulating and the devastating effects that will have on our ability to meet our commitments to seniors.
He has appeared on TV shows, performed radio interviews, held speaking engagements, and produced a web video of his information. The lack of attention paid to his message by lawmakers has been appalling. I believe that Congressional and Presidential irresponsibility led him to appeal directly to the general public to raise awareness. This too has failed. Private citizens have not risen to the challenge of holding our elected officials accountable for the mountains of debt that they are heaping on our children and grandchildren.
Link to an article regarding his resignation:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
You may also read about his message at my previous dairy entitled: "Iceberg!"
It appears that American voters are more interested in supporting candidates who are promising MORE government spending and ignoring our current obligations. The facts are ugly; we can neither afford to continue our current foriegn policy nor increase entitlement spending for health care. In fact, we will need to cut spending, raise taxes, and balance budgets to have any hope of getting out of the mess we are already in.
I realize that is not a popular thing to say, and one day I also may grow tired of raising the alarm that goes unheeded. Mr. Walker served for 10 years as Comptroller of the U.S. so it is understandable that he would wish to move on and let someone else take the lead in this fight.
The question is, will they?
We can only hope that his move to work for a private foundation is not one of stepping down. Perhaps this move will give him the freedom to increase his efforts instead. We are gonna need all the help we can get.
Best of luck to you Mr. Walker in your future endeavours.