Making A Difference in Life: Jacksonville University Commencement Ceremony

This speech was given by the Comptroller General before Jacksonville University, in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 6, 2006. From a national perspective, while the United States is currently the only superpower on earth, at least one more country will join us by 2020. And while we may be number one at some things, I'm sad to say that we are below average among the world's industrialized nations on a range of economic, social, and environmental outcome-based statistics. For example, the United States, which gave the world Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, Jonas Salk, and Bill Gates, now ranks 22nd and 25th in the world on science and math test scores, respectively. We can and must do better. Our nation also faces a range of emerging challenges, including a very serious and growing fiscal imbalance that could swamp our ship of state if we don't get serious soon. For example, in fiscal year 2005, the federal budget deficit was around $318 billion on a cash basis and a record $760 billion on an accrual basis; $760 billion translates into an over $2 billion deficit each day and expenses of $125 for each dollar of revenue. As scary as these numbers are, it's the U.S. government's long-term commitments that are the real problem. I'm talking about things like promises for future Social Security and Medicare benefits and a range of other unfunded commitments and contingencies. Last year, the estimated future costs for these items exceeded $46 trillion, up from about $20 trillion just five years ago.