Former Goldman Sachs chairman John Whitehead on why it’s (now) time for sacrifice and leadership:
“Before I go to sleep at night, I wonder if tomorrow is the day Moody’s and S&P will announce a downgrade of U.S. government bonds,” he said. “Eventually U.S. government bonds would no longer be the triple-A credit that they’ve always been.”
There are at least ten “trillion dollar problems,” facing the United States, he said, including social security, expanding health insurance, rebuilding infrastructure and increased spending on green energy. At the same time, the public does not want to pay for it.
“The public is not prepared to increase taxes. Both parties were for reducing taxes, reducing income to government, and both parties favored a number of new programs — all very costly and all done by the government,” he said.
…Whitehead said he is speaking out on this topic because he is concerned no lawmakers are against these new spending programs and none will stand up and call for higher taxes.