The federal government is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to get us out of this recession, and promises to keep strict track of where it is going and how it is spent.
It’s just all those other trillions that the feds can’t fully explain.
Government bookkeeping is so bad that the Government Accountability Office can’t determine just exactly what our national fiscal condition is.
“Certain material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and other limitations on the scope of our work resulted in conditions that prevented us from expressing an opinion on the fiscal year 2009 and 2008 financial statements other than the Statements of Social Insurance,” Acting Comptroller Gene L. Dodaro reported last week, adding that “Material weaknesses resulted in ineffective internal control over financial reporting (including safeguarding of assets).”
Makes you feel happy about paying those federal income taxes, doesn’t it?
Reading Dodaro’s statement makes you wonder why some of these people have jobs. The GAO, Dodaro said, can’t render an opinion on the government’s financial statements for three big reasons:
(1) serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense (DOD) that have prevented DOD’s financial statements from being auditable, (2) the federal government’s inability to adequately account for and reconcile intragovernmental activity and balances between federal agencies, and (3) the federal government’s ineffective
process for preparing the consolidated financial statements. In addition, the financial statements of the Department of Homeland Security and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for fiscal years 2009 and 2008 were not auditable or were not subjected to audit by agency auditors.
The federal government could not determine exactly how much in “improper payments” it was making, although the amount is estimated at $98 billion, nor could the government ”reasonably assure” that appropriate action is being taken to stop them.
The government also could not identify and resolve information security control deficencies or — ready for this one? — “effectively manage its tax collection activities.”
The GAO sounds a very loud warning that both parties in Congress have thus far elected to ignore:
Looking ahead, the federal government will need to determine the most expeditious manner in which to bring closure to its financial stabilization initiatives while optimizing its investment returns. In addition to managing these actions, problems in the nation’s financial sector have exposed serious weaknesses in the current U.S. financial regulatory system, which, if not effectively addressed, may cause the system to fail to prevent similar or even worse crises in the future. The current system, which was put into place over the past 150 years, is fragmented and complex and simply has not kept pace with the major financial structures, innovations, and products that emerged during the years leading up to the recent financial crisis. Consequently, meaningful financial regulatory reform is of utmost concern.
All this is really scary stuff, brought to the country by one of the most credible sources there is. Anybody in Washington listening?
Go, Milwaukee. But…
March 11th, 2010Go, Milwaukee, go go go for Google.
But can’t we do better than this?
Mayor Tom Barrett and Common Council President Willie Hines announced a joint effort to entice Google to build a high-speed broadband system in Milwaukee.
“I’m hoping this Google Search leads to Milwaukee jobs,” Barrett said in a prepared statement.
“As a city we’re just the right size for the Google Fiber project, with ample telecom infrastructure, and diverse neighborhoods featuring an array of residential housing styles,”Hines said.
The big effort so far? The city submitted its application for the network on the first day they were accepted. Other cities are doing much more. Topeka, Kansas, changed its name to “Google” for the month of March. Duluth, Minnesota, mayor Don Ness’ efforts included jumping into a cold lake.
From the Associated Press:
Shortly after Google’s announcement, Ness gathered business and technology leaders to discuss the project. The city quickly teamed with neighboring Superior, Wis., and started lining up business support, money and volunteers to help the effort.
They built a testimonial-laden Web site — http://www.googletwinports.com — that includes sections for people to pledge to subscribe as soon as the network is available or to show their interest in working for a “fiber-based business.”
It also includes several videos, including a spoof news conference responding to Topeka’s gigabit gambit. In it, a phony Duluth mayor proclaims that “in order to prevail in the Google pandering arms race,” every first-born child would be named “Google Fiber” or “Google-ette Fiber.”
The campaign’s Facebook page is nearing 10,000 members, and the city and its volunteers are producing a 10-minute YouTube video, to be aired at a rally, about why Google should pick Duluth.
And from Business Week:
The city of Greensboro, N.C., is preparing an “Operation Google” gift package for delivery to Google headquarters and has earmarked $50,000 for promoting a Google broadband effort.
Barrett is urging people to visit the Google website to nominate Milwaukee for the project.
The city’s efforts just don’t seem to be in the same league as its competitors’.
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