I’ve been out of the loop for the past few days, and yesterday evening I wanted to catch up on the chatter in the progressive blogosphere. But as I hit a few of the blogs that I visit on a regular basis, it wasn’t the election chatter that caught my eye. My attention was consumed by a new advertisement that’s been rolled out on some A-list blogs (see the screen capture to the left). The creative aspect of the ad hit me with the force of a ton of bricks:

Up Yours, Baby Boomers

My initial reaction, as a card carrying member of the baby boomer generation? “Whoa. You talkin’ to me, buddy? You got somethin’ to say? Let’s take it outside and discuss. I might be on the shorter side in stature, and getting a bit long in the tooth, but I think I can hold my own in a smackdown. So, why you dissin’ me, baby? WYFP? Ready to go?

Why did I get my ass up in the air? Because in my view, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation advertisement sets up a very pressing national problem as a generational wedge issue…

It’s not like America doesn’t have enough wedge issues littering the political landscape, particularly for a complex set of problems that are leading to a serious, long term fiscal crisis. The looming explosion of federal entitlement program costs and interest on the national debt are serious enough to cause former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker to comment that “our republic might be at risk”.

So why is the well-heeled Peterson Foundation (which baby boomer Walker now leads) targeting their marketing approach toward Gen X, Y, and Z, and creating the strawman that boomers such as myself are responsible for the mess?

The baby boomer generation is approaching their AARP years, and the costs of many government-sponsored programs which serve as a social safety net for the working poor and older Americans are skyrocketing. That’s not a “state secret”. Remember the dire predictions of Social Security’s imminent demise that the Bush administration ham-handedly tried to foist on the country a few years back? “Private accounts” managed by an investment broker. Remember those? One wonders how “private accounts” would have worked out in these volatile financial times.

Still, the rising costs of some of these programs don’t auger a pretty picture in the coming years for the federal budget. There’s no debating that particular point.

David Walker, the former U.S. Comptroller General who now heads the Peter G. Peterson foundation, is set to begin his “How Screwed R U” summer tour. Earlier this week, I participated in a conference call with Walker and a few select bloggers as he previewed his message and introduced the mission of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. (Peterson himself was characterized as a “Rockefeller Republican” by Foundation spokesperson Elizabeth Wilner).

As an aggregate, the statistics and projections that Walker presented were disconcerting. It’s not the first time that Walker has struck the alarm klaxon. He has a history of being a burr under the saddle of the administration in power. (Please read my previous discussion of Walker’s work as USCG for more background.)

The bottom line is that since the time of the go-go, budget surplus years of Bill Clinton’s administration, the U.S. has been sliding further and further into a fiscal hole. It’s very easy to blame the crux of the problem on the lousy economic policies of the Bush administration (along with the most expensive war of choice in human history), and in fact, fiscal irresponsibility by the GOP over the past 15 years has much to do with the financial abyss in which the U.S. government now finds itself. But I think it’s more important to understand that many of the issues that Walker examines are as much a product of generational cultural expectations as they are of specific crappy financial decisions made during the course of the Bush regime.

One of the most striking statements that David Walker made during his presentation was that “our republic might be at risk” if we don’t start making some changes soon. But buried in his stats and quick, wonky analysis was the appearance of a darker agenda. I asked him the following question:

I’m struck by your focus [and by default, the Peterson Foundation's focus] on Social Security. Clearly, your charts indicate that Social Security is a much less pressing problem, and a longer term issue, than either Medicare or interest on the national debt. Are you prioritizing the Foundation’s concerns, and will you be addressing the most immediate fiscal issues at the outset of your campaign?

His response was most interesting. According to Walker, Medicare Part A is already running a negative cash flow, and the interest on the national debt is growing daily (see the graph on the left). Both are extremely difficult challenges to deal with, even in the short term. However, he initially characterized fixing the longer term issues with Social Security as “a layup - no, a dunk.” He then used a series of sports metaphors to illustrate that the country needed to get an easy solution to the least pressing and longer term problem (Social Security) in order to gain some traction in dealing with the other issues. And in terms of priorities, Walker feels that those who are working on solving the issues need to be able to “walk and chew gum at the same time”.

I disagreed, and it seems to me that the practical and political realities of the hard choices that need to be made are being ignored in the Foundation’s initial campaign. There is no political will to deal with whatever minor impact will be forthcoming on Social Security 30 or 40 years down the road. When I questioned David Walker about the priorities of the Foundation, here is what I was getting at: many years ago, in a Red Cross first aid course, I learned the priorities in treating accident traumas - breathing, bleeding, shock. In other words, the most dire situation is addressed first, and then the first responder deals with the less life-threatening traumas.

In terms of financial triage, it’s clear that the exponential increase in interest on the national debt is the most acute problem being faced. And there would be tremendous national consensus on addressing the issue of the interest on the national debt. Why? Because a) it’s growing at an alarming rate, and b) most of the growth of this debt interest is due to the selling of America to other countries (most principally, China and countries in the Arab world). Hard to ultimately fix? Sure, because balance of payments is not an easy nut to crack. There are so many facets to the issue. But the cost / benefit ratio of focusing on this problem is tremendous.

Second, there is already a national consensus that America’s healthcare system is completely broken. Everyone agrees that a total overhaul is necessary. When this issue is finally (and hopefully, correctly) addressed, the dire predictions for exploding Medicare growth will be largely relieved. But again, this isn’t going to be cheap or easy, and needs a singular focus of political will.

Social Security? Give me a break. Between now and 2040, Social Security as a percentage of GDP hardly changes at all, even by the government’s own projections.

Listen, I know I’m only skimming the surface on some very deep and institutionally troubling issues. After all, I’m not an economist or an accountant. At the end of the day, though, I don’t want to leave this mess to my kids (and their kids) to clean up. It’s unfortunate that they’re going to get stuck with resolving (and paying for) the lack of political will, no matter what changes are made in the next few years. I was (and am) sympathetic to the mess that baby boom generation leaders have left for those younger than us. But driving a wedge between the generations today is not a cogent strategy for either introducing the problem or moving toward a resolution tomorrow.

The lyrics at the beginning of this article are from the seminal 1990’s song Goodness Gracious by Kevin Gilbert. There is already enough generational tension in this country - probably more than I’ve ever felt. The level of animosity that exists today between the younger generations and the baby boomers far exceeds the generation gap that I experienced when I was growing up in the late 60’s and early 70’s, and the mantra was “don’t trust anyone over 30″.

While the Peter G. Peterson Foundation may well have the best of intentions in addressing the coming fiscal crisis in the U.S., pitting baby boomers against younger generations (or vice-versa) won’t get the job done.