I just finished reading Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility
, by David M. Walker, President and CEO of the Pete G. Peterson Foundation. David Walker spent 15 years working for the federal government. As former Comptroller General of the U.S. he was responsible for auditing the federal government's consolidated financial statements and making sure Washington was accountable to the people who pay the bills. His book carries a powerful message about the financial state of America. Below are a few key points he makes:
Deficit
"The Clinton surplus melted away even faster than I could have imagined" under President Bush. "We went from a $236 billion surplus in fiscal year 2000 to a deficit that was approaching $400 billion in fiscal 2003." (pg xiv)
"In 2007, the federal deficit stood at $161 billion, or 1.2 percent of our economy. In 2008 it was $455 billion, or 3.2 percent. In 2009, figuring in billions spent to pull our economy out of recessions and on various bailout efforts, the deficit rocketed to about $1.42 billion, 9.9 percent of our economy." (pg 15)
Taxes
"Right now, on average Americans pay about 21 percent of their income in federal taxes and another 10 percent to state and local governments. By 2030, to pay our rising bills, that amount could be at least 45 percent - higher even than the average 42 percent most Europeans pay. By 2040, it would be at least 53 percent and climbing." (pg 19)
"More than 40 percent of Americans pay no income taxes at all." Many pay payroll taxes though (Social Security & Medicare). "Obama's tax proposals would make the percentage of freeloaders even larger. Under his changes, as many as half of all working Americans would pay only payroll taxes...paying no income tax at all." (pg 114)
Savings & Consumption
"In the late 1980s, we Americans saved an average of 7.3 percent of our disposable income. But then came the stock boom of the 1990s and the housing boom of the decade that followed. We felt rich, credit was easy to get - and we spent and spent. Our personal savings rate plummeted to less than 2 percent in 2005. By early 2007, at the height of the market bubble, the savings rate stood at an anemic 0.7 percent." (pg 74)
"Historically, consumer spending has accounted for 60 to 65 percent of our national activity. But as the economy heated up, Americans went on a shopping spree, and consumer spending increased to 72 percent." (pg 129)
Health Care
"Over the past forty years health care costs have risen an average of 2.4 percent faster than the national economy has grown. This increase is the primary reason that health care now represents approximately 17% of our economy, up from just 6.5 percent forty years ago."
Education
"America doesn't rank among the top twenty nations in the world in high-school-level math and science proficiency. Our high school system does a poor job of teaching civic responsibility and personal financial literacy as well. About one in three high school students fail to graduate..." (pg 137)
Military
"As of 2005, the average cost of keeping an American serviceman or, -woman in uniform was $114,000 a year. To put this in perspective, median household income at the time was less than $50,000 per year." (pg 155)
Politics & Government
"Professional politicians...take office with very little experience in the practical pursuits of their constituents - manufacturing things, inventing things, transporting people and products, caring for the ill, and teaching young people." (pg 185)
"Since the end of WWII...U.S. senators have won reelection 75 percent of the time" House members have won reelection 90 percent of the time. (pg 186)
While most of the book is devoted to points such as mentioned above, the title after all is "Comeback America" and he includes many suggestions for improving America with his focus on financial matters: reduce deficits, improve the tax code, raise taxes where needed, control health care spending, fund social security...He also offers other suggestions such as term limits, taking responsibility for our own health, becoming civically involved and controlling our personal spending/debt.
Overall it was an excellent book considering it was about budgets, the government and a scary future. I was aware of many of the issues the U.S. is facing, but not so knowledgeable about the exact figures and just how much worse it is than I expected. While I can't expect him to cover every subject I felt there were a few areas he could have discussed further. For example, he talks about the cost of an American serviceman, but nothing is mentioned of our hundred thousand plus troops abroad (Germany, Japan, Korea, etc.) who are not currently fighting in Iraq/Afghanistan. I didn't see any mention of reforming tax laws to encourage savings - currently interest rates are taxed as income, while long term capital gains are taxed at 15%. There was no mention of the huge financial cost of illegal immigration, the war on drugs, medical fraud, wasted foreign aid and our nation's dependence on foreign oil. He talks about reigning in spending at the Pentagon, but did not discuss massive waste throughout government. He discussed governmental accountability, but could have gone much further. Most governmental offices spend with total disregard for where the money comes from. However, as he stated he was an accountant and approaches the situation based on the numbers. Also, I don't recall him mentioning just how few Americans vote and the problems that can lead to (see prior post regarding voting and the great recession).
There is also website - www.comebackamericathebook.com with information including speeches, links, a documentary and national debt clock which is running at a very fast rate.
For further book recommendations including Start-Up Nation
, The J-Curve
, The World is Flat and books by authors such as Fareed Zakaria and Thomas Friedman visit Apellicon's book recommendation website.
Read more...
by Michael Gates Gill
which offers context about the type of workplace he tried to create. For more book reviews visit 
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." I read the "You the Owner's Manual" book and was pretty impressed - the writing was accessible, he offered some valuable insight and I thought his approach was logical. He often looks for certain changes which will improve your life by a reasonable measure. For example, by eating x less often, you will probably live x more years on average. As we know from media moguls, books are an important component of an empire.
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. Overall it was a good course, but what I remember most is what he said at the end. The quote is what I recall as opposed to an exact quote as its been a few years: "when people are on their death bead, no one ever looks back and says - I wish I spent more time at the office, at my desk - they say they wish they spent more time with their wife or children or other family members..."
, which I believe would be popular with viewer's of HBO's program 
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