Ex-GAO head: US debt is three times more than you think
Getty Images
The former U.S. comptroller general says the real U.S. debt is closer to about $65 trillion than the oft-cited figure of $18 trillion.
Dave Walker, who headed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, said when you add up all of the nation’s unfunded liabilities, the national debt is more than three times the number generally advertised.
“If you end up adding to that $18.5 trillion the unfunded civilian and military pensions and retiree healthcare, the additional underfunding for Social Security, the additional underfunding for Medicare, various commitments and contingencies that the federal government has, the real number is about $65 trillion rather than $18 trillion, and it’s growing automatically absent reforms,” Walker told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970 in an interview airing Sunday.
The former comptroller general, who is in charge of ensuring federal spending is fiscally responsible, said a burgeoning national debt hampers the ability of government to carry out both domestic and foreign policy initiatives.
“If you don’t keep your economy strong, and that means to be able to generate more jobs and opportunities, you’re not going to be strong internationally with regard to foreign policy, you’re not going to be able to invest what you need to invest in national defense and homeland security, and ultimately you’re not going to be able to provide the kind of social safety net that we need in this country,” he said.
He said Americans have “lost touch with reality” when it comes to spending.
Walker called for Democrats and Republicans to put aside partisan politics to come together to fix the problem.
“You can be a Democrat, you can be a Republican, you can be unaffiliated, you can be whatever you want, but your duty of loyalty needs to be to country rather than to party, and we need to solve some of the large, known, and growing problems that we have,” he said.
Al Qaeda Terror Chief Captured Among Muslim Migrants
...jihadis in and among the Muslim migrant invasion. The Islamic State
promised this invasion in February. And good to their word they are
moving their army into Europe with the aid and assistance of EU and
Merkel.
Imagine the number we are not capturing. Just today, European law enforcement authorities on Thursday announced a swoop on a European jihadist network that was allegedly planning to try to spring its leader out of detention in Norway. Members of the the group were willing to become suicide bombers and planned to kidnap Norwegian
diplomats either in Europe or the Middle East and hold them hostage
promised this invasion in February. And good to their word they are
moving their army into Europe with the aid and assistance of EU and
Merkel.
Imagine the number we are not capturing. Just today, European law enforcement authorities on Thursday announced a swoop on a European jihadist network that was allegedly planning to try to spring its leader out of detention in Norway. Members of the the group were willing to become suicide bombers and planned to kidnap Norwegian
diplomats either in Europe or the Middle East and hold them hostage
No comments:
Post a Comment