His Hair's On Fire

The American financial crisis is, by far, our most important issue---more important than terrorism, according to David M. Walker, former Comptroller General of the U.S. He calls the Congress totally irresponsible. Without serious changes in fiscal policy, the United States is literally headed for bankruptcy. Unfortunately, legislation that provides additional benefits is easy to pass. But Congress is loathe to consider denying or reducing benefits for any segment of the population because it might cost votes. And that's the problem.

Yet, unless the entitlement programs of medicare, medicaid and social security are changed, they, along with interest on the debt, will grow to outstrip all available resources and crowd out all discretionary spending. The crisis is not yet obvious to citizens and it is easier for Congress not to act, but the longer this goes unaddressed, the more difficult it will be to fix---and if they wait too long, it will not be fixable. Walker likens our situation to a car headed for a crash into the Grand Canyon at 100 miles per hour. If you watch Walker explain the seriousness of our situation in this short video, it will likely scare the dickens out of you.
For more see: NYTimes and GAO Report

Video Length 7 min 57 sec