posted on Oct, 3 2006 @ 03:25 PM
Photobug, thanks for this interesting link. It reminded me, however, of the real U.S. national debt figures revealed in the 2006 book just
republished by U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper of the U.S. House Budget Committee. Rep. Cooper has appended his explanatory foreword to the 2005
Financial Report of the United States Government which was originally published by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on December 15, 2005. Very
favorably reviewed on the C-SPAN TV channel and elsewhere, here are its publishing specifics:
Financial report of the United States -- the official annual White House report. Publisher: Nelson Current. Copyright 2006. Nashville, Tennessee.
ISBN: 1-5955-5080-1 Price: $14.99 Paperback.
Mr. Cooper uses the accrual method of accounting (recommended by the economist Alan Greenspan, among others) to display the real U.S. 2005 U.S. budget
numbers. According to the ATS rules respecting copyright, I can only quote briefly from the book. Here's one good number summary from his
foreword:
..............................................President's Budget.........Financial Report
2005 Deficit:...............................$318.5 Billion.................$760 Billion
National Debt & Commitments:.....$8.3 Trillion...................$49 Trillion
Your Share:.................................$28,000........................$156,000
As Mr. Cooper says, "Does the column on the right look like America, or Argentina?"..."How could the President's Budget and (this) Financial
Report be so different? The answer is different yardsticks. The Budget measures government by looking at cash and obligations, i.e., primarily when
dollars are received and spent. The Financial Report, on the other hand, uses the same measuring method that all large American businesses are
required to use -- 'accrual' accounting. Both ways of measuring are important if you want a clear understanding of your financial position.
...Accrual accounting means recognizing income when it is earned and expenses when they are incurred, not just when cash changes hands. This is a
vital distinction. (Accrual accounting) helps you better understand the bills you have committed your children and grandchildren to pay.
Quoting Alan Greenspan (former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board): "Scoring the U.S. budget on an accrual basis -- the private sector norm
and, I believe, a sensible direction for federal budget accounting -- would better underscore the tradeoffs we face. Under accrual accounting,
benefits would be counted as they are earned by workers rather than when they are paid out by the government."
The Financial Report of the United States includes letters from David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States as well as head of the U.S.
Government Accountability Office (GAO). His letters contain "some of the most devastating analyses of America's current financial position,
including his conclusion that America has a 'broken business model'."
Another nerve-rattling zinger from Mr. Cooper: "The deficit is not 2.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and shrinking, as we are frequently told, but
6.2% of GDP and growing rapidly."
[edit on 10/3/2006 by Uphill]