i'm also honored to be here with my friend, david walker and bob bixby and bill novelli, all of whom i've worked closely with through the years on various different aspects of the subjects we're going to discuss today. and now i haven't worked as closely with mr. biggs who just got in, andrew, but maybe we'll do that in the future. don kettl, thank you for your leadership. this is not a town meeting. if it were a town meeting, every seat here would be filled. indeed, when i held a town meeting on health care, there were 1500 people in the auditorium. and the subject we were discussing was not as important as the subject we're discussing today. it was not, perhaps, as consequential certainly in the long term as the subject we discuss today. and i want to congratulate those with this spire effort to educate -- entire effort to educate our public and to look for solutions. it's easy to lament reality what is, it's difficult to say what should be and how are we going to get there. we're here to discuss what i believe is america's single most pressing challenge, putting our fiscal house i

but according to david walker, that has to stop. he's the chairman and ceo of the pete peterson foundation. he's the nation's top auditor. he has a new book out called "comeback america" which talks about the problem and offers solutions. he joins me now to talk all about it. good to have you on the program, david. thanks for being here. so you are clearly concerned about the nation's debt, the deficit, and that is the focus of the book. why does this matter so much? >> it matters because it's going to affect the u.s. position in the world. it's going to affect your standard of living at home. if you can't have a strong economy, if you can't put your financial house in order, then ultimately it will affect your national security, our international standard and our standard of living. >> and do you think that this is an achievable problem? i mean, here we are, we've got mandatory spending taking up a huge chunk of the budget between social security, medicare, medicaid. that's 60% of the budget. that's spoken for. how do you think you

that's, you know, unavoidable. >> next question right here. >> david walker, you put forward a rubric of nonpartisan solutions that would get bipartisan buy-in. could you or others comment -- are there either -- where you see incremental low hanging fruit for such nonpartisan kind of solutions? or tradeoffs that speak of some of both sides best ideas and building a coalition to start putting those in place? >> i think the two easiest things to possibly gain consensus on would be statutory budget controls that would take effect after the economy has recovered and after unemployment is down significantly. because you don't want them to take effect before that. and secondly, i think there's a social security deal to be had. and i think there's been a social security deal to be had since 1998. but it's just a matter of the president and the congressional leadership wanting to go for it. because -- and i think we need to do that. not because it represents the biggest challenge. not because it's a media crisis. because we get some points on the board. and we enhance public confidence. we bi

. >> now a meeting with steny hoyer and david walker. we will hear about how the new health-care law may affect the deficit. the university of maryland hosts this discussion. >> could afternoon. on behalf of the maryland school of public policy, welcome. i and the professor of public policy. late last fall, i was visiting sol in his new living space on connecticut avenue. he pointed to where i was seated in said that steny hoyer was sitting right there in that chair and he told me that if he possibly could, he would do the program. well, steny hoyer is a man of his word. he is here. his passion and determination were key to making this event happened as they were key to a number of his programs on public policy issues of the day. it was his deep civic engagement and this event is now a tribute to saul stern. i ask that we share a short moment of silence in memory of his good and rich life. it is now my honor to pass the baton to my friend and colleague. [applause] >> thank you. i and the dean of the school of public policy here at the un

i'll introduce you to them as we go along, but i want to start with david walker, president and ceo of the peterson foundation sponsored this film. david, last year in the isea documentary, that number was 32,000 for every man, woman and child in america. that number has grown, a lot has changed over the year. >> dramatically. the deficits have almost gone up ten times, but it's important for people to understand that the threat to our future is not the short-term deficits, it's the deficits that will exist after the economy is recovered, after unemployment is down, after the wars are over, after we pass the crises. these so-called structural deficits threaten our future, both internationally and domestically, and we need to start doing something about it. >> we'll get to everyone else in a moment, but first let's rewind just a bit and pick up where we left off. >> in 2008, the national debt was $9.6 trillion. today it's almost 12.7 trillion, a 32% increase. that's nearly 41,000 for every american. and our budget deficits in national debt are only part of the problem. if you were to ad

[applause] >> it is now my pleasure to not only introduce but backed david walker, our president and ceo, who i call an energizer bunny. he has made hundreds of speeches around the country. he has done all kinds of op-ed articles and tv interviews and so forth. this is a testimony to the death of his -- the depth that his marriage has survived a desperate we want to express our deep appreciation to you for all you have done on behalf of the country. i know your previous experience as comptroller general is more evidence that you are an american patriot. is my pleasure to introduce david walker [applause] >> thank you very much and let me thank you for your generosity in putting your money where your mouth is and your time or your heart lies with regard to federal fiscal responsibility, trying to make sure it is not an oxymoron. we are approaching the end of this conference at the want to thank everybody who participated throughout the day. we have heard many perspectives and opinions from a variety of players across the political spectrum. that is exactly as it should be. as americ

those savings, however, as david walker correctly points out, in part are contingent on kong keeping its pledge and taking hard votes to control health care costs in the years ahead. kong does not have a good track record on that objective. doing so will take courage, the willingness to value our neigh -- nation's fiscal future over the political precious of the moment. it will be essential for the kong to show that courage and it will be incumbent on the american people to demand that courage. that is why i lament that fact that every seat here is not filled. and david, i hope in your sessions to come around the country that the seats will be filled. c.d. and that americans will come as you hope, as concord coalition hopes, and bill, as you've been working towards the public does in fact understand. we're all of one mind on this issue. i understand there's no fiscal sleight of hand or silver bullet to eliminate waste and inefficiency in our health care system. i know that no expert can tell us definitively the best steps to cut costs. but i do know that american health care is the m

. >> here's a discussion on the federal budget with house majority leader steny hoyer, david walker and others. we'll hear about how the new health care law may impact the deficit, from the university of maryland in college park. this is an hour and 45 minutes. >> could afternoon. >> good afternoon, on behalf of the maryland school of public well, steny hoyer is a man of his word. he is here. his passion and determination were key to making this event happened as they were key to a number of his programs on public policy issues of the day. it was his deep civic engagement and this event is now a tribute to saul stern. i ask that we share a short moment of silence in memory of his good and rich life. it is now my honor to pass the baton to my friend and colleague. [applause] >> thank you. i and the dean of the school of public policy here at the university of maryland. i want to welcome all of you to this discussion about something that kids and poured into the american teacher as anything we can imagine. this is part of a dramatic change in the debate about the deficit and national debt

. >> david walker, you put forward a rubric of non-partisan solutions that would get bipartisan buy in. could you or others comment. the sea in criminal law hanging fruit for nonpartisan solutions, or trade-offs that speak to some of both sides best ideas in being a coalition to start putting those in place? the two easiest things to focus on would be statutory budget controls that would take effect after the economy is recovered and after unemployment is down significantly, because you don't want to take effect before that. secondly, i think there is a social security deal to be had. there has been since 1998, but is just a matter of the president and congressional leadership wanting to go for it. i think we need to do that, not because it represents the biggest challenge, but because we get some points on the board and enhance public confidence. we build credibility, and regain momentum to be able to take on tougher stuff. >> i agree with that, if you listen to what bill novelli and i both top track, we did agree 100%, but there were elements that we agreed upon. we understand what w

[laughter] of course ceo, david walker, will speak more about engaging other constituencies. while some people see me as the dr. doom of the deficit and actually still hopeful. america has faced worse challenges before in the aftermath of world war ii our exhaustion confronted a public debt of over 110% of the gdp. twice what it is now and the world economy is in shambles. nevertheless, the generation managed to reduce the public debt to less than 30% of the gdp while simultaneously launching and paying for the g.i. bill, the marshall plan, the u.n. and building the interstate highway system and other major infrastructures. they did it with courage and commitment and a positive vision of a prosperous nation with peace and so can we. we need positive optimistic vision of what in economics and healthy and growing america would look like and what it will mean to our kids and grandkids. the adventure of america has only just begun. we can open a whole new chapter of innovation and growth if we uncover ourselves of our massive debts our future can be ever larger and maybe most imp

so let me now turn things over to our next speaker david walker who has occasionally been referenced as the rock star of our tour. and that's a pretty good achievement when you're a cpa and, you know -- i mean, at our age, stage of life, david, it's great to be referred to as a rock star, isn't it? >> thanks, bob. [applause] >> thank you, bob. i thank all of you for coming on this beautiful spring day. thank you to the university of maryland. everybody who made today possible. in particular, thank you to majority leader hoyer, who's a great leader. and who is sincerely dedicated to financial responsibility. i've been asked to speak for a few minutes on federal financial responsibility. and since this is april 1, i want you to know that this is not an april fool's joke. that we really do mean that we need to restore federal financial responsibility. it's not a joke and it's not a oxymoronic statement. what i would like to do is i want you to understand how profoundly the budget has changed and where do we go from here. in the last 40 years, federal spending net of inflation has grown

have you reviewed david walker's piece? excuse me. you know that we have 60 trillion dollars -- $60 a trillion in debt not too far in front of us. i am talking to you as an accounting professor. there is no way we are growing our way out of this. second, just like everyone else, you have made comments that we are going to keep it in the general fund of social security. that is why we happen to have a multibillion-dollar foreign investment in our trust fund. it is because we kept using president after president, democrat and republican, kept using the surplus after the alan greenspan commission to resolve this program, kept using that surplus to offset the real deficit. since you do know about david walker's program, which i assigned as extra credit to my students, you know that we did not have a $455 billion deficit with bush in his last year, we had a $675 billion number as the deficit. just like every deficit before, including the clinton years. there was not one clinton year where we had a surplus, but i will say that we had the lo

have you reviewed david walker's piece? excuse me. you know that we have 60 trillion dollars -- $60 a trillion in debt not too far in front of us. i am talking to you as an accounting professor. there is no way we are growing our way out of this. second, just like everyone else, you have made comments that we are going to keep it in the general fund of social security. that is why we happen to have a multibillion-dollar foreign investment in our trust fund. it is because we kept using president after president, democrat and republican, kept using the surplus after the alan greenspan commission to resolve this program, kept using that surplus to offset the real deficit. since you do know about david walker's program, which i assigned as extra credit to my students, you know that we did not have a $455 billion deficit with bush in his last year, we had a $675 billion number as the deficit. just like every deficit before, including the clinton years. there was not one clinton year where we had a surplus, but i will say that we had the lo

david walker. jewels valdez. lany david. antonio reyes. dr. george michael howard. >> we remember our friends and family on the eighth floor. our daughter, susan farro. kimberly clark. donald burns. david berkett. ted allen. >> we remember our friends and family on the seventh floor. joanne woodenburg. john van ness. john stuart. terry smith. patricia nickes. james mccarthy. mary renty. to reset lauderdale -- theresa lauderdale. linda florence. judy fischer. >> we remember our friends and family from the seventh floor. my mother. kim cousins. fifth floor, paul gregory. >> where remember our friends and family in the u.s. marine corps recruiting, sixth floor. my brother, capt. randolph bruben. sgt benjamin davis. we remember our friends and family in the u.s. customs. claude arthur. >> we remember our friends and family in the department of agriculture on the fifth floor. rita long. richard cummins. my sister, dr. peggy clarke. owen blomber. -- bloomber. we also remember our friends and family from the u.s. army recruiting department. delores s

david walker. jewels valdez. lany david. antonio reyes. dr. george michael howard. >> we remember our friends and family on the eighth floor. our daughter, susan farro. kimberly clark. donald burns. david berkett. ted allen. >> we remember our friends and family on the seventh floor. joanne woodenburg. john van ness. john stuart. terry smith. patricia nickes. james mccarthy. mary renty. to reset lauderdale -- theresa lauderdale. linda florence. judy fischer. >> we remember our friends and family from the seventh floor. my mother. kim cousins. fifth floor, paul gregory. >> where remember our friends and family in the u.s. marine corps recruiting, sixth floor. my brother, capt. randolph bruben. sgt benjamin davis. we remember our friends and family in the u.s. customs. claude arthur. >> we remember our friends and family in the department of agriculture on the fifth floor. rita long. richard cummins. my sister, dr. peggy clarke. owen blomber. -- bloomber. we also remember our friends and family from the u.s. army recruiting department. delores s

here is a chart and i would like to think david walker of the clearing house organization which is a nationwide bank clearing house organization that basically in part middle of this happen for the slides. thank you, david. but i think this shows the average number of check images and the need of the electronic transmissions of the paper check sent between the banks instead of the paper check each day and i don't know if the folks on tv can see this? yes? good. okay. but basically, you see here on this chart that the average daily volume of images transmitted in the first quarter of 2005 with a grand total of about 80,000 a day and in the last quarter of 08 you could see or i guess the first quarter of the naim about 59.57 million images of checks are transmitted between banks each and every day. here is a comparable chart that shows the dollar volume, the dollar value of the checks again at the top bar the annual fourth quarter to thousand 9-dollar amount of the checks being collected by electronic images transmitted between the banks instead of the paper. 17.2 trillion per year. th

david walker, the former head of the government accountability office and current president and c.e.o. of the peter g. peterson foundation and one of the most respected budget experts in the nation, recently said, and i quote -- "the financial condition of the united states has deteriorated dramatically in recent years. importantly, our primary fiscal threat is not today's deficit and debt levels, but the structural deficits and escalating debt burdens that will occur after the economy has recovered, unemployment is down, the wars are over, and the recent crisis have passed. these large and growing structural deficits and the tens of trillions in unfunded federal government promises that drive them to serve to threaten the future of our country and our families. we must begin to take steps now to put our federal financial house in order. in addition, we must achieve some meaningful reforms within the next three years in order to help avoid a crisis of confidence that could have much worse economic consequences for america, americans and the world than the recent housing and financial

david walker and i wrote an opinion that said the first set toward deficit reduction is actually generating jobs. -- the first step toward deficit reduction. that is a complementary path to deficit reduction. george w. bush said in a time of war and recession, you have to have a large deficit. president obama would agree. there are some people that disagree, but this is something that hopefully we can all agree on, that we should not let this focus on the long-term structural deficit kill the opportunity to generate millions more jobs that people need. we talk about the worry about our grandchildren. that is true, but people are being scarred right now that is going to leave a permanent scar our productive capacity. we are going to have poverty to% higher next year that it was before the recession. >> i want to get everybody to respond. >> i definitely agree that we all have to have economic growth now. even those who are most concerned about the deficit recognize economic growth is the way -- the cheap way to insure we are addressing the deficit over the long term. we understand that long-

here is a chart and i would like to thank david walker who's the president of the check clearinghouse organization which is the nationwide bank clearinghouse organization that basically in part made all this happen for these slides. so thank you, david. so i think this shows for you the average number of check images -- and these are the electronic transmissions of the paper check that are sent between the banks instead of the bank check, each day. and i don't know if the folks on tv can see this, yes? good. okay. but basically you see here on this chart that the average daily volume of images transmitted in the first quarter of 2005 were the grand total of about 80,000 a day. in the last quarter of '08 you can see -- or i guess the first quarter of '09, about 59.57 million images of checks are transmitted between banks each and every day. here's a sort of comparable chart that shows the dollar volume, dollar value of those checks. again, at the top bar there, the annualized fourth quarter of the dollar amounts of the checks being transmitted between the banks instead of the paper. 17

here is a chart and i would like to thank david walker who's the president of the check clearinghouse organization which is the nationwide bank clearinghouse organization that basically in part made all this happen for these slides. so thank you, david. so i think this shows for you the average number of check images -- and these are the electronic transmissions of the paper check that are sent between the banks instead of the bank check, each day. and i don't know if the folks on tv can see this, yes? good. okay. but basically you see here on this chart that the average daily volume of images transmitted in the first quarter of 2005 were the grand total of about 80,000 a day. in the last quarter of '08 you can see -- or i guess the first quarter of '09, about 59.57 million images of checks are transmitted between banks each and every day. here's a sort of comparable chart that shows the dollar volume, dollar value of those checks. again, at the top bar there, the annualized fourth quarter of the dollar amounts of the checks being transmitted between the banks instead of the paper. 17

david walker and i wrote an opinion that said the first set toward deficit reduction is actually generating jobs. -- the first step toward deficit reduction. that is a complementary path to deficit reduction. george w. bush said in a time of war and recession, you have to have a large deficit. president obama would agree. there are some people that disagree, but this is something that hopefully we can all agree on, that we should not let this focus on the long-term structural deficit kill the opportunity to generate millions more jobs that people need. we talk about the worry about our grandchildren. that is true, but people are being scarred right now that is going to leave a permanent scar our productive capacity. we are going to have poverty to% higher next year that it was before the recession. >> i want to get everybody to respond. >> i definitely agree that we all have to have economic growth now. even those who are most concerned about the deficit recognize economic growth is the way -- the cheap way to insure we are addressing the deficit over the long term. we understand that long-