[First_Salute]

Bump.

[FormerLurker]

Looks like the boys behind the curtain are getting a little extra greedy these days...

[FormerLurker]

FYI bump

[onedoug]

And dem dems just keep on taxin'.

[TomGuy]

Filler--used to pack the pork in the barrels Congress was sending to their home districts.

[mass55th]

Check the Clinton Library Fund account.

[Liberal Classic]

The difference being when a business is fraudulent, it goes out of business. The same cannot be said for government programs.

[VOA]

Let me put that into numbers so you can fully appreciate the amount. It's $17,300,000,000 -
the price of a few dozen urban renewal projects, a nice size fleet of warships or
about half the tax cut that everyone made such a fuss about last summer.

Among other things...this is something that has really displeased me: that the
Republicans haven't grabbed this issue, admitted they had some part in the mess so far,
and pledged to clean up this sort of slop.
I think I've seen articles about both the Department of Defense and Federal education
apparati and that both just can't quite find missing piles of $$$.

[xrp]

When the hell are we going to get some statesmen back in the government? Politicians just don't cut it...never have, never will.

I'm normally opposed to human cloning, but in this case, I think we should clone Thomas Jefferson so maybe he can bring our country back from the brink.

Either that or someone needs to grow some nerve and switch us from the horribly corrupted and impossible to understand income tax code to something incredibly simple such as a national sales tax. The USA wouldn't need the IRS then. A sales tax collects itself!

[folklore]

You gotta see this.

[Eva]

I have an idea, why don't we place some of those Enron and Arthur Anderson accountants to oversee the gov't agencies and show them where they went wrong in their book keeping methods. I bet that some of those execs would love a chance to point out the gov't criminals.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

$3,400,000,000,000 (Trillion) of Taxpayers' Money Is Missing, 1999 Wash. Times article re. 1998. Accountability is loonnnnggg overdue.

[caisson71]

Too damn much of my money in too many damn hands. What do we expect?

[Thud]

ping

[Senator Pardek]

"Will anyone be sued or go to jail?"

Pardek's Silly Question #127.

[sandydipper]

Government is Waaaaayyyy out of control.

[concerned about politics]

A tax increase is the only way to fix this. Throw more money at it.

Signed,
The DNC.

[michigander]

If you pass GO! collect $17,300,000,000!

That footnote says that the accountants had to pencil in $17.4 billion that didn't exist
(or was missing) in order to achieve a balanced government ledger.

Don't worry about it, it's covered!

[Mo1]

But the government last year misplaced an incredible $17.3 billion because of shoddy bookkeeping, or worse

How the hell do you MISPLACE 17.3 BILLION DOLLARS

Might I suggest to the Government that for $49.95 they can get a little software program called QUICKEN

[goodnesswins]

Well....DUH....when you hand out credit cards to peons in bureaucratic jobs who then use them to charge whatever the heck they need (or want) in their personal life, and then, DON't MAKE THEM PAY IT BACK......what do you expect? Of course, there are the bureaucrats who are NOT peons who are skimming a lot more than their American Express or VISA bill here, obviously.....

And, what was that about the tax cut not being enough for a muffler, Puffy? How many mufflers would 17.3 Billion BUY, YOU DEM BULB?