Government Accountability Chief Resigns.
By Elizabeth Williamson, The Washington Post, Saturday, February 16, 2008.

One of government’s chief internal watchdogs resigned yesterday, as Comptroller General David M. Walker, an outspoken gadfly and frequent witness on Capitol Hill, announced his plans to lead a new foundation focused on U.S. fiscal responsibility. Walker has led the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s investigative agency, for a decade.

Walker was an outspoken critic of the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare spending – issues on which the Democratic-led Congress, and Republicans before it, have had trouble building consensus.

In September, the administration and the military took issue with a bleak GAO assessment of progress in Iraq; the top military command in Baghdad described the assessment as flawed and “factually incorrect.” Despite last-minute changes to address the criticism, the final report cast serious doubt on U.S. efforts to build a functioning democracy in Iraq.

At the time, Walker told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “Given the fact that significant progress has not been made in improving the living conditions of the Iraqis on a day-to-day basis with regard to things that all citizens care about – safe streets, clean water, reliable electricity, a variety of other basic things … I think you’d have to say it’s dysfunctional – the government is dysfunctional.”

Most of Walker’s tenure was spent with Republicans in control of both the White House and Congress, and he has frequently irritated both bodies with his dire warnings on reining in spending.

During that time, “I would give Walker high marks for trying to stand up for GAO priorities even though he had a Congress that was trying to block him and which didn’t want to know what the White House was up to,” said Scott Lilly, senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress.

“He handled it as forcefully as he could, given that the Congress that was funding him was discouraging him.”

The Walker-era GAO filed, but then declined to appeal, legal action to force Vice President Cheney to provide notes and information about meetings he held with energy companies while developing U.S. energy policy. A related suit wound up before the Supreme Court, which upheld the vice president’s refusal to make the information public.

Walker’s resignation takes effect March 12. He will lead the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a new think tank whose mission, according to its Web site is “to enhance public understanding of the nature and urgency of selected key sustainability challenges that threaten America’s future,” including “unsustainable” growth in entitlement spending, and energy consumption.

The GAO’s chief operating officer, Gene Dodaro, will serve as acting comptroller general until a successor for Walker is found.

“The one thing that bothers me the most, given this president’s record on nominations: It’s not likely we’re going to get a new comptroller before next year,” Lilly said.

“That’s a very sad thing, given how much institutional leadership means toward improving oversight over government.”

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From our own experience in Washington DC, we held in high esteem the US GAO and the Comptroller General’s office. People working there are professional accountants, usually non-partisan, and prepare studies commissioned by Members of Congress – House of Representatives or Senate. We worked on several of their studies in the early eighties – on energy issues. According to a request from Senator McGovern they prepared among other things a study on involvement of Mobil Oil Personnel in decisions of the Department of Energy – Energy Research Advisory Board (ERAB) – when a hidden consultant for Mobil Oil chaired an ERAB board to which he appointed official Mobil Oil scientists. Mr. Walker was already then working for the GAO. He will be missed.

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Peter G. Peterson, Senior Chairman of Blackstone Group LP, and former Commerce Department Secretary, Launches foundation to Target ‘Undeniable, Unsustainable and Untouchable’ Threats to the Nation’s Future and to future Generations of Americans and U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker to Serve as President and Chief Executive of the Foundation.

NEW YORK, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In a move to address the most critical sustainability challenges that threaten America’s future, Peterson today announced the formation of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and his commitment to fund at least $1 billion over the next several years toward addressing these challenges.

The targets of the effort will be the most substantial economic, fiscal and other sustainability challenges of our current age, including: the explosive growth of Federal entitlement programs; unaffordable healthcare costs; unprecedented trade and budget deficits along with abysmally low savings rates, and the associated skyrocketing foreign debt; unsustainable and gluttonous energy consumption; an uncompetitive educational system; and the threat to our collective future from the proliferation of nuclear warfare materials.

“I have been around a very long time, and I have never seen so many simultaneous challenges that I would describe as undeniable, unsustainable and virtually untouchable politically,” said Mr. Peterson, Senior Chairman of The Blackstone Group and former U.S. Commerce Secretary. “We’ve reached the make or break point in American history. These problems have reached tidal proportions and festered for more than two decades due to political irresponsibility — now is the time to put politics aside and put the country first, and begin to solve these problems with courage and clarity. This is the moment in our history when we do what is necessary to remain a first class country.”

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Leading the new foundation as President and CEO will be David M.
Walker, 56. Mr. Walker will work directly with Mr. Peterson and
the Directors of the Foundation in setting the Foundation’s goals and
priorities as well as running the organization’s day-to-day activities.

“Dave Walker is an ideal choice to lead this foundation because he has
tremendous focus, credibility and insight. He has a track record of
commitment to these issues and is leaving a front row seat at the center of
our government, where he acquired an insider’s knowledge of and perspective
on America’s long-term fiscal and other challenges and the factors that
influence them,” said Peterson. “Dave fully understands the stakes for our
future, and I am confident he will serve as a powerful, credible,
non-partisan and no-nonsense voice of reason on behalf of the Foundation
and our mission.”

The Peterson Foundation will focus on drawing attention to and solving
the most critical social, economic and environmental problems that threaten
the nation’s economy and imperil the American way of life for future
generations. The Foundation will seek innovative means to advance its
agenda, relying on both traditional and non-traditional platforms to spread
its message and call Americans to action. When fully staffed, the
Foundation will engage or employ policy advocates, field educators, and
digital media professionals in order to mobilize key constituencies and
develop programs to support its agenda. Critical to the Foundation’s
efforts will be engaging and activating young Americans and their parents,
the business community and the media.

The Foundation will finance efforts to raise public awareness and
understanding, as well as develop and implement sensible policy solutions.
The Foundation today announced the first two recipients of grants will be:
The Concord Coalition for the Fiscal Wake-up Tour and Sam Nunn’s Nuclear
Threat Initiative (in partnership with Warren Buffett). A number of other
grant possibilities are currently being considered.

Peterson believes the nation’s political leadership has fallen prey to
short-term thinking and lacks the courage to clearly spell out the
difficulties, contributing to a state of denial. “If Americans are told the
truth, and if they feel the required sacrifices for our common future are
fairly shared, I have enormous faith that they will respond with a
commitment to identify and implement the right solutions,” Mr. Peterson
said.

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation:

The mission of The Peterson Foundation is to enhance the public
understanding of the nature and urgency of selected key sustainability
challenges that threaten America’s future, to propose sensible and workable
solutions to address these challenges and to build public will to do
something about them.

http://www.petergpetersonfoundation.org

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Peter G. Peterson is friend of Bill Clinton and Al Gore – we expect that developing a new energy policy for the US and questions of the effects of global warming/climate change will be part of the Foundation’s mandate.