Comptroller warns of budget peril ......... "autopilot to destruction"

[RedEarth]

The American economy is on "autopilot to destruction" due to an out-of-control federal budget, U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and representatives of three Washington think tanks said Monday at Tallahassee Community College.

The event, coordinated by the fiscally conservative Concord Coalition and hosted by U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, attracted an audience of about 150 for a two-hour discussion of the effects of entitlements and federal budget deficit spending on the economy.

On the panel with Walker were Bob Bixby, Concord Coalition executive director; Paul Cullinan of the Brookings Institution; and Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation.

Tallahassee is stop 30 for the Fiscal Wake-up Tour.

......

Even assuming no budget deficits, with no tax increases Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and net interest to be paid on the national debt will consume 100 percent of the federal budget by 2042, according to Riedl.

"The hole is getting deeper," Walker said. "The federal government has made tens of trillions of dollars in promises. We have five years, 10 at most, without a major economic disruption (if the problem is not addressed). I don't mean a recession. I mean something much worse."

Bixby said the first baby boomers are eligible for early Social Security retirements this month. Without a change of economic and budgetary course, the federal debt will amount to $455,000 per household by the time that wave of retirements is complete, Walker noted.



http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/BUSINESS/801150315/1003&template=printart


..........related website.....

The Concord Coalition is a nationwide, non-partisan, grassroots organization advocating generationally responsible fiscal policy. The Concord Coalition was founded in 1992 by the late former Senator Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.), former Senator Warren Rudman (R-N.H.), and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Peter Peterson. Former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Ne.) was named a co-chair of the Concord Coalition in January 2002.

The Concord Coalition is dedicated to educating the public about the causes and consequences of federal budget deficits, the long-term challenges facing America's unsustainable entitlement programs, and how to build a sound economy for future generations. The Concord Coalition's national field staff and loyal group of volunteers cover the country, holding lectures, interactive exercises, conducting classes, giving media interviews, and briefing elected officials and their staffs.



http://www.concordcoalition.org/

[Turbineguy]

1. Sounds like we need

more tax cuts right away. Otherwise the rich may get washed down the drain along with the rest of us.

[AndyA]

4. Yes, that's absolutely right! More tax cuts for the wealthy!

Increase spending on the war in Iraq!

Start another war with Iran!!

Let's get this economy rolling again!!!

:sarcasm:

[Hydra]

2. Yup, yup

Great depression 2.0, brought to you by Bushco and the Federal Reserve.

I wonder if this is their next "New Pearl Harbor"?

[Vincardog]

3. Trillions go "Missing" and it is those damned entitlements we have to look at.

PLEASE

[Atman]

5. So, it's only entitlements and 'federal budget deficit spending?'

No war? Oh, wait...the brazillions spent on the war are off-budget. So in reality, we really are totally, totally fucked. Totally.

.

[papau]

6. somehow cutting defense and raising taxes on the rich and corporate with single payer health never

gets discussed - it is always the evil of Social Security and Medicare.