[Thebaddog]

Where does all the money go already for the fight against poverty? How about a little good old fashioned accounting with real numbers that add up.

[SAJ]

Come on. You don't think Enron was the first case of 'creative' accounting, do you? There hasn't been a government you or I can name that's kept honest books since colonial times (Hamilton was scrupulously honest, for instance, as SecTreas, and there wasn't a bureaucracy then to sandbag him).

Figure 60-75% of all 'aid' is stolen, one way or another, skimming, baksheesh,kickbacks, shoddy goods/workmanship, rakeoffs, backscratches, doubtless several common tactics I've missed. Marcos may have been the all time champ, but Duvalier, Mbutu Sese Soko, Savimbi, Nkrumah and Aristide have to be on the list somewhere, too.

Honest books would also mention contingent liabilities such as loan guarantees, below-cost insurance (think FDIC), un- and underfunded pension liabilities, et. al. By an honest count, the US debt is more on the order of $22-23 trillion than $6 trillion.

[maxwellp]

"Where does all the money go...". Look in private Swiss bank accounts.

[Mudboy Slim]

"Where does all the money go already for the fight against poverty? How about a little good old fashioned accounting with real numbers that add up."

Yep...then prosecute and imprison the Effete Elite Whore'd that steals from the mouths of the poor to fund their own lavish lifestyles!!

FReegards...MUD