US Published National Debt
$
The Truth
$
Each Taxpayer's Share: $1,086,000
Financial State of the Union 2026
Truth in Accounting’s analysis of the most recent audited Financial Report of the U.S. Government found its overall financial condition worsened by $11.6 trillion in 2025.
Financial State of the Cities 2026
The report examines the fiscal health of America’s five largest cities–Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City.
Financial State of the States 2025
Our sixteenth annual Financial State of the States (FSOS) report provides a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health of all 50 states.
Data-Z (database for state and city data)
Create your own chart with more than 700 data variables at the federal, state, and city levels.
The Pension Time Bomb: Why the GASB’s Accounting Rules Demand Congressional Oversight
April 23, 2026
America’s state and local governments are sitting on a hidden fiscal crisis. Under today’s official accounting rules, hundreds of billions of dollars in underfunded pension promises are not reflected as liabilities in the budgetary fund statements used for budgeting decisions. The result? Distorted budgets, squeezed funding for schools, roads, and public safety, and a massive transfer of costs to future generations.
Regime Change at the Fed: From Big Bank Bailouts to Local Productivity
February 24, 2026
ScheerPost
On January 30, when former Federal Reserve board member Kevin Warsh was nominated by President Trump as the central bank’s next chair, markets sold off and gold and silver plunged. Investors were positioned for a “dove,” someone inclined to cut rates aggressively and keep money loose; and Warsh has a long-standing reputation as a “hawk.”
The Chicago Teachers’ Mystery Audits
February 1, 2026
The Wall Street Journal
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has resisted making its financial audits public, and we are starting to learn why. The union recently produced audits going back to 2020, and the records show that its finances haven’t always received a clean slate by its official independent auditor.
The I-64 Near Miss: When Crumbling Infrastructure Meets Misleading Financials
April 23, 2026
The I-64 Bridge in Illinois has a pothole so large that the road beneath it is visible. It was almost hit by a semi-trailer. This is extremely dangerous, putting lives at risk.
And it highlights the results of poor infrastructure asset management in the audited financial reports, which directly ties to what our friend David Draine at the Pew Charitable Trusts is working on.
The Accounting Juggling Act
April 14, 2026
Adam Smith warned us about one “juggling trick”: governments printing money to pay their debts. As Thomas Savidge explained so clearly in his latest article, that trick lets politicians enjoy today’s spending while shifting tomorrow’s pain onto future taxpayers and currency holders. It blurs the bright line between fiscal and monetary policy, erodes public wealth, and has doomed empires from Rome to Argentina.
Yet Smith’s “juggling trick” has an equally deceptive companion: the federal government’s own accounting and reporting rules.
Louisiana's 2024 Single Audit Reveals Significant Federal Fund Compliance Issues
March 30, 2026
Each year, states like Louisiana undergo a Single Audit to verify proper use of federal funds. These audits assess internal controls, compliance with requirements, and safeguards against misuse, with special focus on major programs.
Florida's Single Audit Reveals Serious Oversight Gaps in Federal Public Health Funds
March 27, 2026
Florida's most recent Single Audit—which reviews compliance with federal grant requirements—raises red flags about the management of substantial federal dollars allocated to public health programs.
Get this in your e-mail. Subscribe below.
