2011 Government Financial Report- Unacceptable

Right before Christmas (December 23) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its “2011 Financial Report of the United States Government.” The GAO works for Congress and operates as a bi-partisan watchdog to monitor how taxpayer dollars are being spent.

The press release associated with the release of the report stated, “The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) cannot render an opinion on the 2011 consolidated financial statements of the federal government, because of widespread material internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations.

Specifically, the press release cited; 1. Serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense (DOD) that make its financial statements unauditable, 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.

The report identified a material weakness of $115.3 billion in improper payments, information security issues across government, and tax collection activities.

I’ve posted the study in the Library of our site. It discusses some of the basic numbers ($1.3 trillion deficit compared to $2.1` trillion in 2010; 1.9 million new jobs compared to 350,000 in 2010) and an overview of some of the actions taken to try to get the country on the right track. You can look at the numbers and decide how well they are working for yourself. The numbers indicate some progress was made- just not nearly enough.

From a health care perspective- the report makes two significant points- Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are big parts of the problem (representing 45% of all spending), and the Medicare Trust Fund will run out of funding in 2024- five years earlier than was projected in 2010.

While many are calling for “cuts” that usually impact the “boots on the ground” citizen, this report shows we would likely find huge opportunities to reduce spending simply by putting accountable accounting systems in place to track where money is going and how well it is being invested.

In a nutshell, the accounting controls and books used to measure how well we’re doing financially as a country are a mess. In all honesty, we probably don’t have a real clue how big our debt really is- and its inexcusable. The financial managers associated with such a report in the private market would likely be fired.

We should expect no less from those responsible for the allocation of our taxpayer dollars- including the Congress (both Republican and Democrat alike). They need to be held accountable for the results of their efforts. This effort is unacceptable.