$619 billion missed from federal transparency site

WASHINGTON — A government website intended to make federal spending more transparent was missing at least $619 billion from 302 federal programs, a government audit has found.

• The Department of Health and Human Services failed to report nearly $544 billion, mostly in direct assistance programs like Medicare.

• The Department of the Interior did not report spending for 163 of its 265 assistance programs.

For more than 22% of federal awards, the spending website literally doesn't know where the money went.

$619 billion missed from federal transparency site

Keep in mind we're talking about reported information on assistance for contracted awards (grants or loans etc...) Money various agencies give out to others for any number of reasons. Totaling approximately $619 billion in fiscal year 2012. Specifically, 33 of 37 agencies with a budget authority of at least $400 million reported at least one contract, the other four claimed nonexempt...

The website USA Spending dot Gov was set up to provide transparency to where and how our tax dollars are going...

and on June 30th the U.S. GAO filed a report Oversight Needed to Address Underreporting and Inconsistencies on Federal Award Website
there they basically said for more than 22% of federal awards, the spending website, literally doesn't know where the money went?

GAO estimates with 95 percent confidence that between 2 percent and 7 percent of the awards contained information that was fully consistent with agencies' records for all 21 data elements examined. The element that identifies the name of the award recipient was the most consistent, while the elements that describe the award's place of performance were generally the most inconsistent. GAO could not determine whether the remaining data elements were significantly consistent or inconsistent, in large part because of incomplete or inadequate agency records. Four data elements in particular (e.g., program source information and the state of performance) had inadequacies that were significant. This means that for each of the four data elements, at least 10 percent of awards contained unverifiable information.

In other words, these agencies simply handed out some $619 billion and no one bothered to write down a note saying who, where and why they did it...

Well, now you know why we can't seem to get a handle on our nations debit... The penny counters are asleep at the wheel...

Check in Michelle's purse.

• The Department of Health and Human Services failed to report nearly $544 billion, mostly in direct assistance programs like Medicare.

And people are supposed to trust the HHS ?

They are "handling" Obama.Care !!!

I wonder who gets to steal the most ?

a reply to: LrdRedhawk

Quick...
Lets get in line for our share while congress is still busy suing Obama to do anything about this prob!

a reply to: HardCorps

Are they claiming the money is missing or that the numbers don't match the GAO numbers?

Oh, is that all?

Well im sure theres a perfectly logical explanation for that!

Right?

All that money missing and weve just elected to send billions more over seas.....

Whats funny is if i was running a country and I wanted to intentionally bankrupt it, Id be following the same steps that this administration and other gov entities have been doing......

WEIRD!

a reply to: Bilk22

Officially they claim no wrong doing...

Saying it's all due to bad accounting and reporting procedures...

However you and I both know--- it's that kind of environment... where GS 8's drives big fancy Mercedes and live in million dollar customs homes ... and nobody knows or cares where they got the money.

I think I know what happened...its in the same swiss account the trillions missing from the Pentagon ended up in.......

they need to haul everyone in for questioning who had access to those missing funds. in any private company funds missing like this is call for criminal investigation, so is this being investigated by the FBI (being these are federal agencies)? heads need to roll, and the money returned if misappropriated, as well as those responsible being fired or imprisoned depending on if just not properly reported or stolen.

a reply to: generik

Stop relying on agancies to solve the problem. They are as much a part of the problem. This requires information to spread QUICKLY through all social media, outrage the public, get a massive petition going and hire unbiased lawyers and specialists to rip into it.
Do it QUICK or they will put the coffers on it !

Let us continue to reward incompetence. Do you think they'll retain their jobs, their status ? You bet they will !
And some will even get promoted for being so useless !

We need to take'm out behind the barn and beat the living stuff out of them.

We need heads to roll ! Heads to hold up and show each and every one of them that we're not going to take the BS anymore !

do they have the same accountant as brussels maybe they think that if brussels can get away with it then so can they .

You know, I'm tired. All this corruption has exhausted me. I'm tired. I just don't care anymore.

This must be what it means to get old.

originally posted by: SIEGE
Let us continue to reward incompetence. Do you think they'll retain their jobs, their status ? You bet they will !

And some will even get promoted for being so useless !

Pretty much, nothing will get done. No one will get punished, no fingers pointed, just everyone will shrug their shoulders and carry on their meaningless existence.

Teach a man to fish ..... he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank & he can rob everyone!

Just think, if we only had to pay enough taxes to run the government for only things that are necessary and there was not enough money that could end up unaccounted for or sent to all these other countries. We would all be so much better off

a reply to: JHumm

Maybe we should suggest and new law...
one that gives us the right to say where and how our tax dollars are used...
I have no prob if they used my money for schools, roads, better border security...

But I don't like the idea of my tax dollars going to other countries...esp when we still have to address our own problems like hunger and homelessness right here...