[POST NOTE FROM WJB: In 1999, GASB (Government Accounting Standards Board) changed the policy for showing revenue on the combined financial columns of the CAFR. Prior to 1999, it was required to show all income, investments, & revenue. The change starting in 1999, was now on the combined financial columns of the CAFR, it was required to show all income, investments, & revenue necessary to meet obligations of that local government. A big difference! It is important to get back issues to see what now does not show as of 1999 forward. The notes in the CAFR must be looked at closely for direction to other accounting reports whose revenue is not shown in the report you are examining.]

Now, I mentioned earlier, a Web site to get CAFRs downloaded: it's financenet.gov ... www.financenet.gov... Go to that site, & you'll be able to download some of your Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports. You will also, instead of putting cafr.htm at the end, if you put "reports.htm" you will also get other financial reports available.

www.financenet.gov...

Now, the game here has been played, regarding the obfuscation of the wealth, boils down to nondisclosure. The reports are available for viewing. The game was not making those reports not available; the game was "Don't discuss, don't talk, don't mention. If you don't know, you can't take effective action." So, request the report. [Require your local paper or politician to make continuous & open mention of the CAFRs]

Also, the news media, request that they make simple & conspicuous mention. There is no reason whatsoever for them not to do so except confirming their criminal culpability in nondisclosure. Any politician running for office - the governor, the congressmen, the senator, & the dogcatcher - I don't care. Any person running for public office - the sheriff - if he refuses to make simple & conspicuous mention of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report from the podium, the platform, or in public forum, throw his materials in the garbage can & immediately look to another candidate. If that person running for office refuses to make simple & conspicuous mention of' the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report they are confirming their cooperation with the nondisclosure. They have ... they do not have your interests at heart, they only have their own. They want to become part of the inner circle & perpetuate the game. They're not for your ... they're not for your interests, or your family's or your children's.

Now, I noticed in Missouri, I saw in the notes, bond dividend yield, $47 million; bond dividend yield, $118 million. And I said, "Why is the state declaring bond dividend yields?" I came back to the Missouri financial authority; they're investing the state's own monies & they had to disclose the return that was coming back in from their investments.

Back to New Jersey. 10 years ago when I saw New Jersey's report I noticed it said $14 billion in insurance company equity participation. I said to myself, "What is insurance company equity participation?" I started looking. Found out the federal government, back about 25 years ago, close to it, mandated that the insurance companies, had to create a major catastrophe fund, in the event of natural disaster, large hurricane hit the East coast-wiped out a couple hundred thousand homes, a million or two automobiles; a big earthquake hits California, same scenario; they wanted to make sure that they were covered. Well, this equated to trillions of dollars, which, the insurance companies did not have at the time. The federal government gave them ten years to implement the program. At the end of the 10 years, 94% of the revenue requirement was satisfied by state & federal investment funds & when you look at the records, was mostly a 2.4-2.6% interest, well below prime, they invested their monies.

Now, what this means to the public in real term let's use automobile insurance. Auto comes under the major catastrophe fund, as I mentioned, large hurricane hit the East Coast, wipes out hundreds of thousands of automobiles; big earthquake hits California, same scenario. I'll use Arizona as an example. In Arizona, the minimum coverage is $30,000. And, based on the major catastrophe fund rules, 1/3 of the value of the policy, the face value, has to be left on deposit. So, one-third of $30,000 is $10,000. That money being provided by state & federal investment funds, say at 5% interest for easy accounting that equates to a $500-a-year return. Now, my auto insurance premium is $658 a year. Under this example, the insurance company is only getting $158; the government is getting $500, on the return. Did you ever wonder why they make it mandatory insurance, state by state, & enforce it by armed force? Every state with mandatory insurance is opening up a phenomenal investment pool

... Now, I took this a step further. I called the Division of Motor Vehicles in Phoenix to find out the total number of registered vehicles, both commercial & noncommercial in the state. To be registered it required insurance, mandatory insurance state. I then called the insurance company data banks to find out the total liability claims paid by all insurance companies operating in the state of Arizona. I then took that figure, added on a 35% markup to allow for a profit margin in operating costs. For a paper company that's pretty good. I then took the total number of registered vehicles, divided it by (sic) (into) that number. The average annual insurance premium, using that those figures, came out to being $126 per year. Got the picture?

Government has been getting into every aspect of taking money. The public's familiar with taxation, taxation is actually turning into a very small portion of government's take. Investment funds are their primary vehicle for revenue generation at this point in time, taxation's secondary. You have to start tracking down these investment funds. The next time you hear, "Well, we're going to have to shut the school down, it's got holes in its roof, we need to raise taxes for a million dollars," or "the police are under funded, we're gonna have to let half of 'em go," pop up with "Oh, by the way, they said they had to shut down the school, well, I see they have $42 million here in the local government investment pool. Why are you not using this?"
Now, Jesse Ventura, when he was mayor of... a... I think it was Menlo [Brooklyn] Park, the city wanted to have a tax increase of $260,000, a small increase, for the school districts. They said they were at a short fall of money. He looked & saw a $48 million investment fund sitting there, listed as idle funds, so he goes, "Here, take it from here". And he was the first person to openly admit as to the difference between the budgetary basis & the liquid investment funds. He was elected governor, & also the first step he did was to target $7 billion in surplus funds for return to the public. Now, legislature, ok, who has their hands very deep in the pockets here, went to block him on the $7 billion & he was only able to free up about $1.8 billion, which equated to about a $800 check for every person living in the state.