[Infowarrior] - US Comptroller (and GAO head) resigns, citing accountability concerns

[Richard Forno]

Watchdog resigns over accountability

>From correspondents in Washington

February 16, 2008 03:57am
Article from: Agence France-Presse

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23223292-23109,00.html#

THE head of the audit and investigative arm of the US Congress announced his
resignation Friday, citing "real limitations" on what he could do.

A respected voice on fiscal matters, David Walker said he was making an
early departure from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) to head a
new public interest foundation.

"As Comptroller General of the United States and head of the GAO, there are
real limitations on what I can do and say in connection with key public
policy issues, especially issues that directly relate to GAO's client - the
Congress," Mr Walker said.

He did not elaborate but Walker last year issued an unusually downbeat
assessment of his country's future in a report that drew parallels with the
end of the Roman empire.

He had warned that the US government was on a "burning platform" of
unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic
healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments
threatening a crisis if action was not taken soon.

There were striking similarities between America's current situation and the
factors that brought down Rome, he had said.

These included "declining moral values and political civility at home, an
over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal
irresponsibility by the central government."

"This was a very difficult decision for me," Mr Walker said Friday of his
decision to leave the GAO, which he joined in November for what was to be a
15-year term of office. His resignation would be effective March 12.

He said he would become president and chief executive officer of the newly
established Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which would educate and activate
Americans while supporting sensible policy solutions on various issues.

"My new position will provide me with the ability and resources to more
aggressively address a range of current and emerging challenges facing our
country," he said.

"This move will enable me to sharpen my messages and bring focus and
attention to the fiscal and other key sustainability challenges that I and
others have been discussing during the past several years," he said.