David M. Walker (CPA)

David M. Walker (born 1951) is the President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

Career

David M. Walker has been President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation since March 2008. Prior to that, he served as Comptroller General of the United States and ran the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

As Comptroller General of the United States and head of the (GAO) from 1998 to 2008, spanning both Democratic and Republican administrations, Dave served as the federal government's chief auditor. Appointed by President Bill Clinton and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate, he was an outspoken, nonpartisan advocate for addressing the major fiscal and other key sustainability challenges facing the country. He also led transformational reform efforts at the agency and within the accountability profession, both domestically and internationally.

Prior to his appointment to run the GAO, Dave served as a partner and global managing director of Arthur Andersen LLP and in several government leadership positions, including as a Public Trustee for Social Security and Medicare from 1990 to 1995 and as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Pension and Welfare Benefit Programs during the Reagan administration. Prior to Arthur Andersen, Walker worked for Source Finance, a personnel agency, and before that was in Human Resources at accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand.

In 2007 Mr. Walker was elected as a member of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC) of the United Nations. He also serves on the boards of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the Partnership for Public Service. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, the National Academy of Social Insurance and an active member of various professional, public service, and other organizations, including the Sons of the American Revolution. Mr. Walker has won numerous leadership and public service awards. He has authored two books, is a regular commentator, and is the subject of I.O.U.S.A. [http://www.iousathemovie.com] , a documentary on his experiences traveling America explaining the country's fiscal problems to its residents.

Dave holds a B.S. in accounting from Jacksonville University, a Senior Management in Government Certificate in public policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and several honorary doctorate degrees. He is also a CPA. He and his wife Mary live in Alexandria, VA and have two children and three grandchildren.

Views and actions as Comptroller General

Walker has compared the present-day United States with the Roman Empire in its decline, saying the U.S. government is on a "burning platform" of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, expensive overcommitments to government provided health care, swelling Medicare costs, the enormous expense of a prospective universal health care system, immigration, and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon. [3] [4] [5] He has also noted that U.S. can and must turn things around. [Grant, Jeremy, " [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/80fa0a2c-49ef-11dc-9ffe-0000779fd2ac.html Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned,] " "Financial Times", August 14 2007.] [Allison, Tony, " [http://www.financialsense.com/Market/allison/2007/1015.html The Boomers are Coming, The Boomers are Coming: Demographic Tsunami is at the Gate,] " "Financial Sense Wrap-up", Octrober 15, 2007.] [ " [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/01/60minutes/main2528226.shtml U.S. Heading For Financial Trouble? Comptroller Says Medicare Program Endangers Financial Stability,] " CBS News, "60 Minutes", July 8, 2007.]

Walker has actively taken a public stance against the running of massive federal budget deficits and accumulation of public debt. He has participated in numerous town hall meetings around the country organized by the Concord Coalition known as the "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour." This has consisted of a series of trips across the country with representatives from the Concord Coalition and scholars from the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation.

Notes

Books by Walker

*1996. "Retirement Security: Understanding and Planning Your Financial Future". John Wiley & Sons.
*1998. "Delivering on the Promise: How to Attract, Manage and Retain Human Capital". Free Press.

External links

* [http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=12567387 60 Minutes interview on state of our economy.] "60 Minutes".
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/4857646.stm Interview] with BBC's Hardtalk.
* [http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/04/24/david_walker/ Conversation with David Walker.] Minnesota Public Radio program "Policy and a Pint", April 18, 2007.
* [http://robinson.gsu.edu/magazine/spring2007/man_on_mission.html Interview] in Georgia State University, J. Mack Robinson College of Business publication, "State of Business".
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-16u9x3tfE David Walker on Glenn Beck] discussing the upcoming financial crisis.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6Q14HOBThM&feature=related Youtube footage] of 60 Minuites interview
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2621165089458528794 Economic Disaster Ahead] "CNN".
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8732808456242994060 Saving Our Future: Today's Tough Choices] A 2005 appearance at the City Club of Portland
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3870288672934020126 The Nation's Growing Fiscal Imbalance: Perspectives and Issues with David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States] Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8985248061871933971 Lou Dobbs & David Walker on the Economy] 2/20/08 "CNN"
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1213409097549745601 Rep. Elijah Cummings and Comptroller General David Walker discuss contractor bonuses for "attitude and effort" as opposed to performance.]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7304705928441799737 Auditing Uncle Sam] Interview "First Business Morning News"
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIgrxpp97OQ America's Financial Future] Video Presentation created by the U.S. Government Accountability Office