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USA Today reported May
29, 2007 that if the U.S. Government used the same accounting rules
required of corporations it would show “a $1.3 trillion loss [for]
last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit”.
According to the article, “modern accounting requires that
corporations, state governments and local governments count expenses
immediately when a transaction occurs, even if the payment will be
made later.” The federal government doesn’t follow this rule,
therefore “promises for Social Security and Medicare don't show up
when the government reports its financial condition.” The
Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Board, which determines
standards for government financial reporting, has considered
changing the standards and requiring the government to comply by the
same rules required of corporations. This would mean that Medicare
and Social Security liabilities would have to be reported on the
government’s balance sheet. The White House apparently is opposed
to the idea, “arguing that the programs are not true liabilities
because [the] government can cancel or cut them.” 1
Folks, in case you
haven’t figured it out already, the government cannot be trusted
to be honest with your money and they can’t even be honest about
their dishonesty. For the White House to insist that the Social
Security money they took from your paycheck for your retirement is
not a liability – ie. money they owe you – is despicable.
Also despicable is the incredibly irresponsible spending habits of a
Congress that was dominated for 12 years by supposedly fiscally
responsible Republicans. Conservatives shouldn’t deny that the
Republican Party is no longer the party of limited government. Even
worse, all the money borrowed will someday have to be paid back and
it will be up to future generations – our children and
grandchildren – to do it. What person would consider it moral for
a parent to max his credit cards and leave them for his children to
repay? Yet that is exactly what the government has been doing for
decades now. The federal government has maxed the credit cards, and
now it's liabilities amount to a “record $59.1 trillion".
This breaks down to “$516,348 for every U.S. household.” 1
Such debt is absolutely staggering and we are kidding ourselves if
we think it will not affect the economic stability of our nation.
Who knows if the problem can truly be solved at this point, but to
do nothing would be a disaster. A national bankruptcy and/or a
collapse of the dollar might be averted if Congress would take steps to
downsize the welfare state and return to the principles of limited
government that our Founders set up. |
