Experts: U.S. is spending its way to financial ruin

By Kevin G. Hall
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Congress this week is likely to trim federal spending and insist with a straight face that government spending is under better control.

It's not.

"The facts are not partisan, and they're not ideological," said David Walker, the nation's comptroller general. He should know. He's the nation's chief accountant and signs off on the government's balance sheet. America's fiscal future, he said, "is worse than advertised."

Even though the White House and Congress pledge to trim $35 billion to $50 billion in spending over five years, that's chicken feed. The government spends more than $2.5 trillion every year. Congress' savings would trim less than half of 1 percent of annual spending.