Bridgeport resident David Walker, a former U.S. Comptroller General, is in Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention. (He shares thoughts with OIB below.) He also attended the Republican convention last week. On Thursday his Bridgeport-based Comeback America Initiative will kick off a “non-partisan fiscal responsibility bus tour.” It is unprecedented in nature and scope, according to Walker, featuring a fully wrapped campaign bus and a one-of-a-kind U.S. Financial Burden Barometer 2 1/2′ x 10′, will start at over $70 trillion, and will be increasing by $10 million a minute.
The bus will be in Bridgeport part of Thursday afternoon to load for the first stop in Manchester NH on Friday. An event sponsored by the Yale School of Management in New Haven will take place on Saturday. You can find out more about the tour at www.10MillionaMinute.com. From the campaign:
Believe it or not, for every minute that goes by, our federal government’s financial sinkhole grows deeper by about $10 million! The U.S. public needs to know the current and future issues concerning the U.S.’s finances. The $10 Million a Minute Tour will educate the public on these issues.
About the Tour
An issue oriented campaign that is led by the Comeback America Initiative. The tour will stop in over a dozen states, bringing national attention to the economic and fiscal challenges facing our nation. The tour is fact-based, non-partisan and non-ideological. It will focus on the tough choices we face and sensible, non-partisan solutions that can achieve bipartisan support and restore fiscal sanity.
About CAI
The Hon. David M. Walker, a former U.S. Comptroller General, is the founder and CEO of CAI. CAI is a non-profit organization that promotes fiscal responsibility and sustainability by engaging the public and assisting key policymakers on a non-partisan basis in order to achieve solutions to America’s fiscal imbalances.
Walker shares his thoughts on the Democratic convention:
The crowd at the Democratic Convention is much more diverse and active than the GOP Convention. They seem to be a broad collection of people with a wide range on interests. The GOP Convention was focused primarily on the economy, jobs and fiscal responsibility. These are the issues that I primarily focus on at CAI. The Democratic convention is dealing with a much broader range of issues. Interestingly, while the conservative wing of the GOP is criticized by some for its social views, the Democrats are much more focused on social issues and in some ways that would make independents and moderates uncomfortable. The Democrats are clearly trying to activate a broad range of activists in many areas of concern beyond economics (e.g., women’s and Latino issues).
In the final analysis, absent a major international or domestic security event, I believe the election will be decided on the issues of the economy, jobs and fiscal responsibility. These are all interconnected and interdependent issues and should be addressed as such and on a top priority basis. The debates should be critical this year and the Presidential ticket that can convince the majority of the electorate that they can do the best on these issues in the future is likely to win.
It is interesting that I am hearing a number of Democrats at the Convention talk about the possibility of Romney winning the popular vote and Obama winning the electoral college. Obama clearly has more ways to win the electoral college but that would be a real irony if it did happen given the events related to Bush v. Gore.
Here’s what I like about David Walker: his U.S. Financial Burden Barometer begins at $70 Trillion, which contains many of the unfunded liabilities not normally included with budget projections. Current calculations understate these figures resulting in misguided optimism that prompts politicians to spend money that doesn’t exist.
David Walker non-partisan, please, give me a break. Just listen to him when he is on “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, you can tell he is a hard-leaning Republican who would like to break up unions and take away their pensions.
*** ON THE ROAD AGAIN! ***
This guy served in the Bush administration and is complaining about the national debt … He is responsible for it.
David Walker was the account auditor under Bush, he did not set policy or approve debt, his job was to make sure the budget was properly reported–he worked for Clinton and Bush Senior and resigned under Bush two so please make sure you clarify which Bush and please give him credit for the Clinton years.