Will the US become a banana republic? Or maybe it already is….
Three congressmen called a press conference onCapitol Hill Thursday to announce support of a bill
that would requirethe federal government to report its finances in the same way thatevery business in America is supposed to do. Only five reporters showedup.
But the lawmakers, Republicans Mark Kirk of Illinoisand Chris Chocola of Indiana and Democrat Jim Cooper of Tennessee,insisted that their simple little bill would serve as a wake-up call toAmericans that the financial shape of the federal government is muchworse than they suspect.
Obviouslythere wasn’t an initial groundswell of support or large press interest.Most reporters interested in the budget were trying to buttonhole othermembers of Congress about whether the 2007 budget resolution was goingto pass.
“This is not the sexiest bill ever introduced, butit could have an impact on American lives more than any other bill thisyear,” Cooper said at the press conference, held in the mostly emptyHouse Budget Committee’s hearing room.
Their “Truth in Accounting Act” essentially wouldrequire the government to report the serious long-term unfundedliabilities of the government in such programs as Medicare, Medicaid,and Social Security as well as the rest of the government.
These liabilities over the next 75 years total $46trillion. Many budget experts say that this amount is so large that thegovernment will be forced to raise taxes sharply, slash governmentdeeply or borrow so much money that the U.S. will resemble a bananarepublic.