IMPEACH BUSH

The sky isn't falling — yet. But David M. Walker, the comptroller general of the United States, is sounding his fiscal alarm outside the Beltway in a three-year commitment to educate the public about the monumental, unchecked federal deficit.

Don't blame the nearly $500 billion spent on the war in Iraq or the $125 billion to rebuild after Katrina, Walker says. These expenses don't help, but the culprits he names are the large federal entitlement programs — Social Security and Medicare — in combination with demographic forces and political irresponsibility. It also doesn't help that there are no meaningful budget controls in place.

And don't be lulled by the recent reduction in the deficit over last year at this time, as tax collections surpass growth in expenditures. Walker claims even an optimistic projection of economic growth over the long term won't fix the underlying budget issues.

Walker has undertaken the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour that recently landed him on CBS' 60 Minutes hoping his unprecedented campaign will provoke citizens to demand action from their government.

We are in debt to the tune of $9 trillion. In fiscal year 2006, revenues increased by $255 billion, but costs exceeded revenues by $450 billion and cash outlays exceeded cash receipts by $248 billion. The numbers either scare your pants off or cause your eyes to glaze over. Walker thinks it's primarily the latter.

Walker began his tour, supported by partnerships with organizations as diverse as the Heritage Foundation and AARP, in 2005 because he felt elected representatives of all stripes were ignoring the issue. He will continue speaking on college campuses and at city forums through the 2008 presidential elections. He has been heartened by recent pledges from the Bush administration to reduce the deficit by 2012 and by the U.S. House voting to bring back the so-called "pay as you go rules."

What would really make the nation's chief accountant a happy man is for Congress to address the much-needed revamping of Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare — important stabilizing programs that are unsustainable in their current form. He believes lawmakers can maintain the integrity of the programs while realistically addressing the demographic challenge of the aging baby boomers.

The worst-case scenario for Walker would be failing to address these issues and defaulting on the debt, as did Argentina.

Tough choices need to be made, he says, and the sooner the better. With entitlement reform, restraining some spending and raising revenues, the bleeding can be staunched. Walker is right that accomplishing these goals will take sacrifice on the part of all. His campaign interjects a needed cautionary note in a fiscal landscape that cannot fail to make those paying attention uneasy. He raises thoughtful questions that demand thoughtful answers from officials and candidates in the months to come.