Nation's ledgers lambasted as shoddy
Long-term view bleak, U.S. budget chief says
Published: Dec 18, 2007 12:30 AM
Modified: Dec 18, 2007 04:58 AM
"If the federal government were a private corporation and the same report came out this morning, our stock would be dropping and there would be talk about whether the company's management and directors needed a major shake-up," Comptroller David Walker said in a speech at the National Press Club.
As head of the Government Accountability Office, Congress' nonpartisan auditor, Walker said government finances are in such disarray he was unable to sign off on the books. In fact, "for the 11th straight year GAO was unable to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government," largely because of "very serious internal control weaknesses," he said.
"The prescription drug benefit alone represents about $8 trillion of Medicare's $34 trillion gap. Incredibly, this number was not disclosed or discussed until after the Congress had voted on the bill and the president had signed it into law," Walker said.
"In many ways, the 2003 Medicare prescription drug episode arguably represents government 'truth' and 'transparency' at its worst."
Let's not forget that Thomas Scully ordered the HHS actuary to LIE about the cost of this benefit.
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