Posted on 02/22/2009 4:56:55 AM PST by rhema
Bloomberg, one of the nation's most respected financial news sources, recently reported that the multi-hundred-billion-dollar stimulus package recently signed into law will push the government's total commitment to addressing our economic crisis over the past year to a total of about $9.7 trillion.
That's enough to send a $1,430 check to every man, woman and child in the world.
It's enough to pay off more than 90 percent of all home mortgage loans in the U.S.
We've dealt so much in hundreds of billions and trillions over the past several months that these massive numbers have become almost commonplace.
But, the truth of the matter is: This is anything but trivial. Because when we talk about the "government's commitment," we're talking about your commitment. We're talking about your hard-earned money, your children's hard-earned money, their children's hard-earned money - generations of taxpayers will be paying for this commitment.
What's more disturbing than the $9.7 trillion total is that about $8 trillion of it was spent without a vote by your elected representatives in Congress. It was lent or pledged under the authority of the Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
There's no open debate on the House floor. No chance for you to provide input to your Senators. So, the commitment of your money occurs with little fanfare and little notice by anyone. In the coming weeks, as Congress considers funding bills for government agencies and programs through the regular appropriations process, the question becomes whether Congress is really cognizant of what money has already been spent and how far over-extended taxpayers not only of this generation but of future generations already are.
With the bipartisan support of Blue Dog Democrats and the Ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, I've reintroduced the Truth In Accounting Act to make government finances truly transparent and open. Not only would financial commitments be crystal clear to Congress, but also to the taxpayers.
Thomas Jefferson once said that, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government ... whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights" (1789).
For our representative government to work as the Founders envisioned, the public must have full access to the facts. And, I don't mean sound bites and little snippets of information fed to them by 24-hour cable news.
The Truth in Accounting Act would, in technical terms, measure the present value of projected spending minus projected revenues, over both a 75-year horizon and an indefinite-time horizon, for several long-term spending obligations. The resulting report to the public would be the budget shortfall that must be financed to put American fiscal policies on a sustainable path.
Currently, when Congress and the president prepare budget proposals and pass spending bills, they have the luxury of ignoring the shortfalls year after year. They prepare, present and approve budgets that project these estimates over the short-term - usually five or 10 years. And, there are a lot of things that can be done on paper to paper over the long-term shortfalls.
My Truth in Accounting Act would require the President to consider these long-term shortfalls when he proposes his budget. And, it would require both the GAO (Government Accountability Office) and the U.S. Treasury to report this information to the Congress so that the numbers can be used when we're finalizing the annual budget.
Furthermore, my legislation would require that the report be translated into easily comprehensible terms so that nothing could be hidden by complex jargon.
The government's fiscal imbalance would be presented in the whole, and as distributed per person, per worker, and per household.
Congress has passed legislation that will push your financial commitment to the economic crisis up to $9.7 trillion. Congress, the president and - most importantly - the taxpayers should be fully apprised of what's truly at stake.
When Enron lifted the veil on the accounting problems that riddled Wall Street's finances, Congress insisted on real transparency for shareholders.
The American people deserve no less from their government.
Congress has passed legislation that will push your financial commitment to the economic crisis up to $9.7 trillion,Ignorance marches on.
I have met and talked with Michelle Bachmann a few times - she’s “very conservative”.
Ping.
I would vote for her natioanlly.
Obama will use the same this is a crisis tactic with liberal members of Congress in lockstep with Reid and Pelosi and any opposing voices marginalized. Welcome to the new East Germany folks.
“The Federal Government Must Be Transparent”
The federal government is already transparent; trasnparently stupid, puerile, psychotic, authoritarian, presumptuous, dismissive of the constitution and people who work for a living. (one might be able to say loaded with socialist punks.)
IMHO
Michelle Bachmann: very nice to look at.
IMHO
I would bet that with the never ending interest, it will be a lot more. Damn, Paulson should be shot!
She does give me hope for my state. Naturally, she drives liberals insane. It’s a short trip for most of them.
We definitely need more like her in this state! If the
fraud Franken steals the Senate seat, we’ll likely not
recover from the damage for decades.
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