This is a sad day for the US government, and sadder still for all of us as taxpayers. Taxpayers who have paid for greed, screwups, and general indeptitude by parties who have access to our tax dollars.
David Walker runs a non-partisan department (GAO) that usually responds to a Congressional request for an investigation or research effort so that we all can learn more about an issue, a concern, a topic. The GAO has brought more misdeeds to our attention than any other government agency — misdeeds by government agencies, including screwups and cover ups; by corporations gaming the system and aiming for more corporate welfare payments; by foundations and not-for-profits, by the healthcare system players, including HMOs. All these investative reports are available to you free if ou want to know more about how things went wrong — and recommendations on how they can be fixed or avoided in the fuure.
We should want a guy like Walker in charge given the un-accountability of many of our institutions in the public, private and social sectors.
Notice the name of this agency: It was the Government “Accounting” Office, and under Walker it wsa changed to “Accountability” — very appropriate given the taxpayers’ rising expectations of greater accountability.
Wishing Mr. Walker well, we hope his successor will continue the high standards of non-partisan, independent, thorough, illimunating investigations that were a hallmark of his administration.
And we look forward to Mr. Walker’s continuing quest for greater accountability as head of the Peterson Foundation.
Hank Boerner
Editor & Publisher
Accountability Central
