FEDERAL READING ROOM

See Federal IFTA Publications

The Looming Crisis in Medicare, Social Security and the Budget
    Watch the breakfast speech with Comptroller General Walker

Loving the lure of money
Article published in the Chicago Tribune

What's the Real Federal Deficit?
    A USA Today Investigation by Dennis Cauchon

America's Fiscal Future
Speech given by Comptroller General David Walker on March 14, 2006, at The London School of Economics.
"Being the head of GAO isn’t always an easy job, and some people don’t value truth and transparency. But as Harry Truman once said about his nickname of “Give ‘Em Hell Harry,” “I never give anybody hell. I just tell them the truth and they think it’s hell.” I can assure you that GAO and I will continue to speak truth to power and tell it like it is."

Fiscally, U.S. wrenching:
Written by Comptroller General David Walker

2005 Financial Report of the U.S. Government

Truth and Transparency
Speech given by Comptroller General David Walker on Sept. 17, 2003
"The bottom line is that...the federal government's current financial statements and annual reports do not give policymakers and the American people an adequate picture of our government's overall performance and true financial condition...How can American people and their elected officials make sound decisions if they aren't given timely, accurate and useful information?"

Howell E. Jackson, a Professor at Harvard Law School (email: hjackson@law.harvard.edu) has written an insightful paper discussing the restatement of the Social Security system under commonly used accrual accounting. The paper is 110 pages long and well worth the read. "Accounting for Social Security and Its Reform" can be found at: http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/cbg/Events/Papers/RPP_10-03-02 Jackson.pdf

On November 14, 2002 Under Secretary of the Treasury Peter R. Fisher gave an important speech at the Columbus Council on World Affairs. He concluded the speech concluded with, "Federal budget decision-making needs to follow good business practice and move on from cash accounting to accrual accounting. If we can do this, maybe the federal government can learn how to better align the promises we make with those that we can keep." These remarks can be found at: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/po3622.htm