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Welcome to the blog of Connor Boyack, a 20-something husband, web designer, Latter-day Saint, constitutionalist, paleocon, classical liberal, preparedness practitioner, budding philanthropist, and master's student of political economy. I'm from Poway, CA but live in Happy Valley.


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Tracking the Trillions

Posted by Connor on October 17th, 2006

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Almost five years ago, CBS ran a story about a statement made by Donald Rumsfeld on the eve of what has become known the world over as 9/11.

On September 10, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld held a press conference to announce that 2.3 trillion dollars were unaccounted for.

“According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions,” Rumsfeld admitted.

2.3. Trillion. That’s 2,300 billion. That’s 2,300,000 thousand. That’s a lot of money. Unaccounted for. Gone. Missing. Vanished. Thin air. Poof.

The article goes on to tell a similar story about how $300 million was unaccounted for, on a separate occasion, by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. A whistle-blowing employee recounted the experience:

“The director looked at me and said ‘Why do you care about this stuff?’ It took me aback, you know? My supervisor asking me why I care about doing a good job,” said Minnery.

He was reassigned and says officials then covered up the problem by just writing it off.

“They have to cover it up,” he said. “That’s where the corruption comes in. They have to cover up the fact that they can’t do the job.”

And that right there, ladies and gents, is our government. Three cheers for Uncle Sam!

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2 comments so far. Care to chime in?

The government corruption and waste never ends. This web site reports on a recent DHS audit that took place:

Here’s my favorite. It’s a doozy folks. You may want to read it twice: FEMA was unable to fully support the accuracy and completeness of certain unpaid obligations, and accounts payable, and the related effects on net position, if any, prior to the completion of DHS’s 2006 PAR. These unpaid obligations, as reported in the accompanying DHS balance sheet as of September 30, 2006, were $22.3 Billion or 46% of DHS consolidated unexpended appropriations at September 30, 2006.

To give some idea of proportionality, in fiscal year 2005 the entire Grants and Training (formerly know as State and Local Government Preparedness, a/k/a grants to get working radios for NYC firemen and protection for bridges, tunnels, chemical plants and nuclear facilities) was only $171 million.

So, follow me here, FEMA has lost and/or failed to account for a sum of money that is almost half of DHS’s entire budget and 130 times greater than the amount of money that the Department of Homeland Security is willing to spend to secure the homeland.

#1 Connor on January 22nd, 2007

As if more examples were necessary, the JBS has a commentary about $12 billion in FRNs being unaccounted for.

Far from being fiscally responsible, our government is a porous ship quickly sinking.

Your tax dollars are being flushed down the toilet. Or stuffed in somebody’s pocket off the books. Or both.

#2 Connor on February 13th, 2007

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