Government Essay

Running on Empty

Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It

In this book P. Peterson reminded the Bush aide that the United States faced a frightening long term balance sheet. This is the same scenario we have heard before but now we are living it. “As more than 70 million baby boomers begin retiring later in the decade, the Social Security and Medicare programs are destined to sink into multitrillion-dollar deficits, causing enormous hardships for younger Americans. Bush had a chance to avert disaster, Peterson told his aide. By using the immediate surpluses to fix the looming crisis, the new president could possibly solve "one of the largest fiscal challenges in our history. “
Peter Peterson is a lifelong Republican, chairman of the Blackstone Group, and former secretary of commerce under Nixon. He reports that Republicans and Democrats alike have mortgaged America’s future trough reckless tax cuts large spending and not so good accounting in Congress. His book, “Running on Empty….”, strongly addresses the fact that American government can’t balance their checkbook.   “George W. Bush calls for making his panoply of unaffordable tax cuts permanent, with no credible path to fiscal balance, proclaiming himself a conservative even as he benefits politically from a torrent of spending financed by borrowing.” Peterson’s message is simple and urgent: Republicans and Democrats "have launched America into the new century on a course of vast and mounting budget deficits, which, if left unaltered, can only end in an economy-shattering crisis or crushing burdens on America's younger generations." Book warns us about that is Bush tax cuts were made permanent and the increase in the federal spending tracks economic growth, the federal government would incur additional $90 000 in debt for every American household by the year of 2014. “Taxes are going to have to increase to redress the fiscal...