If you don't have to deal with budgets and corporate accounting, God Bless you, but we might want to think about making the government do it.
Here are some scary tidbits:
Under this method of accounting, future outlays for entitlements (all the "vested" government benefits those of you under 30 may never receive) must be acknowledged as expenditures before they are actually paid. If we account for Social Security in that manner, and reflect the amounts already obligated, the deficit for the fiscal year that ended September 30 (per Mr. Will) would have been $3Trillion rather than a mere $454.8 Billion.
Under this accounting, our current national debt is an astounding $56 Trillion, not the mere $10 Trillion that is bandied about by your politicians (not mine - none of mine ever get elected, being, as they are, mostly responsible Americans and leaning libertarian). Don't you just love GAAP accounting?
Now add to that this little fact (again, Mr. Will's comment and data, but he is a trustworthy source) that in a quarter century - when the under 30's are approaching retirement age - the population 65 and older will increase from 12 to 20 percent, but the funding source (those who work and pay taxes) will shrink from 60 to 55%. Assuming only historical growth in Medicare, entitlements will account for 65% of all federal expenditures.
Now tell me, would any reasonable person, facing that kind of data and understanding the debt impact of entitlements, ever vote for a bailout or a stimulus bill of the proportions these morons are promoting? Not and keep her job in corporate America!
3 comments:
General, the Government doesn't even understand basic principles of economics, and you think they should understand accrual accounting? This is the federal government that just keeps printing money!
In all seriousness, if your idea were enacted, we'd be in a lot better shape than we are now. It's just common sense. Unfortunately, for that very reason, it will probably never be passed into law.
...and probably because people like The General don't go into political offices...when they are the types that we NEED there. They understand things that our current politicians don't (like budgets, defense and *accounting*).
I know of a few people that would LOVE to back the General (in fact, got an email just the other day) in a House or Senate race.
I am flattered, but not at all sure I would do well in a compromise-oriented, consensus driven group of some 535 people, all of whom believe they are smarter than the other 534. Now if they give me command of that little battalion ......
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