General Discussion

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts) Wed Aug 6, 2014, 04:32 AM Aug 2014

$619 billion missed from federal transparency site

Gregory Korte, USA TODAY 6:59 p.m. EDT August 5, 2014

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.

And the data that does exist is wildly inaccurate, according to the Government Accountability Office, which looked at 2012 spending data. Only 2% to 7% of spending data on USASpending.gov is "fully consistent with agencies' records," according to the report.

Among the data missing from the 6-year-old federal website:

• The Department of Health and Human Services failed to report nearly $544 billion, mostly in direct assistance programs like Medicare. The department admitted that it should have reported aggregate numbers of spending on those programs.

• The Department of the Interior did not report spending for 163 of its 265 assistance programs because, the department said, its accounting systems were not compatible with the data formats required by USASpending.gov. The result: $5.3 billion in spending missing from the website.

• The White House itself failed to report any of the programs it's directly responsible for. At the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which is part of the White House, officials said they thought HHS was responsible for reporting their spending.

- Well, I'm glad they cleared that up. Now we know what they're not telling us. Sort of.

I think......

8 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

$619 billion missed from federal transparency site (Original Post) DeSwiss Aug 2014 OP

What happened SamKnause Aug 2014 #1

Spot on! This is anger-inducing and UNACCEPTABLE! anti partisan Aug 2014 #2

It's wherever Saddam hid them danged WMDs....... DeSwiss Aug 2014 #3

Must be the poor people. Octafish Aug 2014 #4

It's always the poors what done it. DeSwiss Aug 2014 #6

Like the time they deregulated the S&Ls and a $ Trillion bucks disappeared. Octafish Aug 2014 #8

very interesting...K&R... KoKo Aug 2014 #5

Yes. DeSwiss Aug 2014 #7

SamKnause

(13,108 posts)

1. What happened

Reply to DeSwiss (Original post)

Wed Aug 6, 2014, 08:50 AM

Aug 2014

to the 2.3 Trillion dollars the Pentagon could not account for ???

Rumsfeld held a press conference on September 10th and announced the Pentagon could not account for 2.3 Trillion dollars.

The next day the Twin Towers and building 7 fell.

I haven't heard a single word about the 2.3 Trillion missing dollars since that day.

It seems the government is quite efficient at losing our tax dollars.

Between the bailouts, missing funds, and all of the inaccuracies our government continues to prove its ineptness and corruption.

anti partisan

(429 posts)

2. Spot on! This is anger-inducing and UNACCEPTABLE!

Reply to SamKnause (Reply #1)

Wed Aug 6, 2014, 08:55 AM

Aug 2014

The government is almost FUBAR at this point, and it's good to admit it without fear of being called teabaggers. After all:
Progressives want the government fixed to make the government accountable, transparent, and meeting the needs of the people.
The GOP wants the government to exist, but continue to be non-transparent so that it can continue to successfully meet the needs of the elite and escape scrutiny.
The Tea Party wants the government not to exist, except for the Defense Department.

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)

3. It's wherever Saddam hid them danged WMDs.......

Reply to SamKnause (Reply #1)

Wed Aug 6, 2014, 08:59 AM

Aug 2014

...or maybe its where that other money they lost over there in Iraq that was just sitting there on a bunch of pallets right there at the air base. And poof, its gone!

Even armed guards couldn't deter the thieves....

- I'm sure the Pentagon will be requesting additional funding to investigate the whole affair.