Editorial: A national security threat?

Monday, Jan. 15, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.

Lost in the wake of President Bush's call for more troops to Iraq was the sobering testimony that David M. Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office, gave Thursday to the Senate Budget Committee.

In short: Something has to be done to stop the nation's growing debt and it needs to be done quickly.

Walker, who has been on a campaign to sound the warning, told senators that the nation's long-term financial outlook is "worse than advertised." Using more concise accounting methods shows that the nation's debt went from $20 trillion in 2000 to $50 trillion in 2006.

People know that the nation is in the hole, Walker said, but they think it is out there somewhere in the future. Walker, however, said the problem is "fast becoming a short-term" issue.

For years it has been known that the Social Security system could be in dire straits as waves of Baby Boomers retire. The first Baby Boomers will be eligible for Social Security next year and, if projections go as expected, Walker said, the Social Security system will run into a deficit by 2017, which will only worsen the growing problem.

Walker went so far as to call the deficit and budget problems a matter of "national security." While the nation has acted to beef up its defenses, the Bush administration has unfortunately only added to the deficit.

There are a multitude of problems, and Walker said there is "no silver bullet." In other words, the solutions will not come simply from ideas casually thrown about.

There have been a number of proposals to cut the deficit - relying on the growth of the economy; eliminating earmarks; wiping out fraud and waste in government; ending the war or cutting back the Defense Department budget; or letting the tax cuts expire. But Walker said those are not the answer.

He is right in that those in themselves, while they may all help, will not solve the problem.

The bottom line will be that Congress will have to show fiscal discipline - making sure the government is providing money for the programs needed, but trimming the fat. That will be difficult for those in Washington who like to call themselves fiscal conservatives yet still vote for tax cuts that add to the mounting deficit.

Walker's warning is real and it is time the country start taking it seriously and doing what it has to do to get out of debt. The initial read on the Democratic-controlled Congress is this, unlike in the previous Republican-controlled years, will be a priority. It has to be.