- Jan 20, 2001
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Colored paper . . .
But this is a bipartisan game . . .
But Bushistas/GOP have taken it to another level.
Having said that . . . it's also obvious that Bush's MBA has less utility than soggy toilet paper.
I'm inclined to agree that distant future outlays for SS/Medicare shouldn't be included. But the audited statement by Treasury is far closer to reality than what Bush (and Clinton before him) brags about.The federal government keeps two sets of books.
The set the government promotes to the public has a healthier bottom line: a $318 billion deficit in 2005.
The set the government doesn't talk about is the audited financial statement produced by the government's accountants following standard accounting rules. It reports a more ominous financial picture: a $760 billion deficit for 2005. If Social Security and Medicare were included ? as the board that sets accounting rules is considering ? the federal deficit would have been $3.5 trillion.
I do find it amazing that we pay people to lie to us.Last year, the audited statement produced by the accountants said the government ran a deficit equal to $6,700 for every American household. The number given to the public put the deficit at $2,800 per household.
Does this sound familiar . . . drug benefit no more than $400B over 10 years . . . really . . . no kidding."We're a bottom-line culture, and we've been hiding the bottom line from the American people," says Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., a former investment banker. "It's not fair to them, and it's delusional on our part."
But this is a bipartisan game . . .
The Clinton administration reported a surplus of $559 billion in its final four budget years. The audited numbers showed a deficit of $484 billion.
But Bushistas/GOP have taken it to another level.
Again, I'm not convinced that ALL future liabilities in SS/Medicare should be included since future taxpayers are expected to contribute to the programs and its undeniable that changes will be made to reduce the expense.The new Medicare prescription-drug benefit alone would have added $8 trillion to the government's audited deficit. That's the amount the government would need today, set aside and earning interest, to pay for the tens of trillions of dollars the benefit will cost in future years.
Standard accounting concepts say that $8 trillion should be reported as an expense. Combined with other new liabilities and operating losses, the government would have reported an $11 trillion deficit in 2004 ? about the size of the nation's entire economy.
Having said that . . . it's also obvious that Bush's MBA has less utility than soggy toilet paper.
We don't have to worry about that . . . we have 'honor and dignity' in the White House and a Congress above reproach . . . except for a few indictments."The problem with cash accounting is that there's a tremendous opportunity for manipulation," says University of Texas accounting professor Michael Granof. "It's not just that you fool others. You end up fooling yourself, too."
Hmm, they must have a former bidness person running that operation. Isn't DOD the sinkhole that's grown by over 100% since Bush took over?Today, 18 of 24 departments and agencies produce annual reports certified by auditors. (The others, including the Defense Department, still have record-keeping troubles so severe that auditors refuse to certify the reliability of their books, according to the government's annual report.)