[NYTr] US Comptroller Raises Spectre of Declining Empires

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[Well, someone in the moron's regime is still awake... -NY Transfer]

sent by Riaz K. Tayob (activ-l)

Financial Times, London - Aug 14, 2007
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/80fa0a2c-49ef-11dc-9ffe-0000779fd2ac.html


Learn from Rome's fall or else, U.S. comptroller general warns

By Jeremy Grant

WASHINGTON -- The US government is on a "burning platform" of 
unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic 
healthcare underfunding, immigration, and overseas military commitments 
threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the countrybs top 
government inspector has warned.

David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually 
downbeat assessment of his country's future in a report that lays out 
what he called "chilling long-term simulations."

These include "dramatic" tax rises, slashed government services, and
the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt.

Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned 
there were "striking similarities" between America's current situation 
and the factors that brought down Rome, including "declining moral 
values and political civility at home, an over-confident and 
over-extended military in foreign lands, and fiscal irresponsibility by 
the central government."

"Sound familiar?" Mr Walker said. "In my view, it's time to learn from 
history and take steps to ensure that the American Republic is the
first to stand the test of time."

Mr Walker's views carry weight because he is a non-partisan figure in 
charge of the Government Accountability Office, often described as the 
investigative arm of the US Congress.

While most of its studies are commissioned by legislators, about 10 per 
cent -- such as the one containing his latest warnings -- are initiated 
by the comptroller general himself.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Walker said he had 
mentioned some of the issues before but now wanted to "turn up the 
volume." Some of them were too sensitive for others in government to 
"have their names associated with."

"I'm trying to sound an alarm and issue a wake-up call," he said. "As 
comptroller general I've got an ability to look longer-range and take
on issues that others may be hesitant, and in many cases may not be in
a position, to take on.

"One of the concerns is obviously we are a great country but we face 
major sustainability challenges that we are not taking seriously 
enough," said Mr Walker, who was appointed during the Clinton 
administration to the post, which carries a 15-year term.

The fiscal imbalance meant the US was "on a path toward an explosion of 
debt."

"With the looming retirement of baby boomers, spiralling healthcare 
costs, plummeting savings rates, and increasing reliance on foreign 
lenders, we face unprecedented fiscal risks," said Mr Walker, a former 
senior executive at PwC auditing firm.

Current US policy on education, energy, the environment, immigration, 
and Iraq also was on an "unsustainable path."

"Our very prosperity is placing greater demands on our physical 
infrastructure. Billions of dollars will be needed to modernise 
everything from highways and airports to water and sewage systems. The 
recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis was a sobering wake-up call."

Mr Walker said he would offer to brief the would-be presidential 
candidates next spring.

"They need to make fiscal responsibility and inter-generational equity 
one of their top priorities. If they do, I think we have a chance to 
turn this around, but if they don't, I think the risk of a serious 
crisis rises considerably."