Comeback America : : Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility

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Fiscal crisis 101 -- America 2030 : why we must act-now -- Principles from our history and common sense -- Obama's challenge -- Save Social Security first.
As head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO)--"the nation's top auditor"-- David M. Walker warned Congress and the administration as the federal surplus became a giant deficit under George W. Bush. Now, Walker works full-time to raise public awareness regarding mounting debt burdens being imposed on future generations. This is his manifesto, a way to end out-of-control government spending and reform our tax, retirement, health care, defense, and other systems--before it's too late. The book includes bold ideas to control spending, save Social Security, dramatically alter Medicare, and simplify the tax code--all taking into account the Obama Administration's current efforts, which receive never-before-published assessments both complimentary and critical.--From publisher description.

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Comeback America submitted by emjane on July 14, 2012, 8:03pm David Walker’s book, Comeback America, is filled with doom and gloom about our country’s economic state. He paints a rough picture of the pile of debt and the “borrowing is okay” mindset America has. Though he provides some potential solutions, the brunt of Walker’s focus is on the problems facing our nation.

Comeback America centers on irresponsible government spending, with special emphasis on social security, health care, and the pentagon. Walker’s credentials on this topic are high – he’s US Comptroller general and head of the Government Accountability Office. He has a genuine interest in our country’s fiscal responsibility, and he fills the book with appalling statistics (such as, if America’s debt was divided over the number of households in the country, each one would owe $483,000). Walker also avoids aligning himself with a political party throughout the book: he was a fan of Bush Senior and Clinton’s economic policies, upset with Bush Junior’s, and hopeful, but worried, about Obama’s.

As I was reading Comeback America, I knew what I was learning was important, but despite my efforts to engage, I was mostly bored with it. Walker’s writing is clear, but not particularly inspiring. Walker often gives speeches dealing with the same issues Comeback America does, and I would’ve rather heard him speak on them: his passion for the subject likely comes across better in speech than in type.