US Published National Debt
$
The Truth
$
Each Taxpayer's Share: $ 993,000
Financial State of the Union 2025
According to the most recent audited Financial Report of the U.S. Government, our nation’s true debt has climbed to $158.6 trillion, burdening each federal taxpayer with $974,000.
Financial State of the Cities 2025
The Financial State of the Cities report found that 54 cities did not have enough money to pay their bills. Each city has some form of a balanced budget requirement, but this new report shows that cities have not met the intent of their requirement and have pushed costs onto future taxpayers.
Financial State of the States 2024
Our fifteenth 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.
Truth in Accounting’s Sheila Weinberg on Illinois’ pension mess and whether budgets are ‘balanced’
April 5, 2025
Wirepoints
Public Affairs’ Jeff Berkowitz sits down for a conversation with Sheila Weinberg, Founder and CEO of “Truth in Accounting,” since 2002 and whose mission is to compel governments to produce financial reports that are understandable, reliable, transparent and correct. Sheila Weinberg received her Certified Public Accountant, also known as a CPA, credential in 1981, along with a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Denver, which she attended on an academic scholarship. Ms. Weinberg’s research initiatives include “The Truth about Balanced Budgets, a Fifty State Study,” the Financial State of the States and the Financial State of the Union.
Have Gov. Pritzker’s budgets been balanced?
March 28, 2025
Public Affairs TV
Public Affairs’ Jeff Berkowitz sits down for a conversation with Sheila Weinberg, Founder and CEO of “Truth in Accounting,” since 2002 and whose mission is to compel governments to produce financial reports that are understandable, reliable, transparent and correct.
Chicago leaders hand $40K in debt to each taxpayer, second-worst in U.S.
March 25, 2025
The Illinois Policy Institute
But that only covers Chicago’s debts. Those same taxpayers would need to contribute an additional $37,000 to pay down the state’s existing debts, according to Truth in Accounting’s most recent 2024 State of the States report.
A Leader Who Puts Principle Over Pay for an Essential Cause
March 28, 2025
In a world where six-figure salaries are the norm for nonprofit CEOs, Sheila Weinberg stands apart. As the founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting, she has dedicated decades to exposing the government's flawed accounting and financial reporting rules, all without taking a dime in salary.
Compare that to many nonprofit executives who command hefty paychecks. In 2022 alone, the CEO of the American Red Cross earned over $700,000, and the head of the United Way pulled in nearly $2 million.
Weinberg, a CPA by trade, could have chosen a lucrative corporate career. Instead, she built Truth in Accounting from the ground up, fueled by a passion for fiscal responsibility and transparency. Her mission? To ensure Americans know the truth about their government’s finances and to push for reforms that hold elected officials accountable.
Our Fiscal Burden is Far Greater than Generally Reported
March 17, 2025
The primary purpose of our Citizen-Heroes event and ongoing efforts is to make clear to the general public that the actual financial obligations of the US Federal government are far greater than is generally understood, primarily because the US Federal government has worked hard via FASAB to hide the actual financial obligations of the U.S. Federal Government.
The Need for Radical U.S. Federal Government Reform…Now!!!!!
March 17, 2025
Imagine my surprise when I ran for Congress in 2012 only to find out that since 1950, the U.S. federal government has overspent its budget 71 of the last 75 years, bringing debt from $257 billion in 1950 ($3.3 trillion adjusted for inflation) to an unsustainable $36.2 trillion today thereby increasing our debt load ten-fold since 1950.
70 Years of Mismanagement: Untangling the Mess that is the U.S. Federal Government and the Need for Transparency
March 17, 2025
Each Citizen-Heroes participating in this effort has been fighting the good fight for financial transparency for over two decades and some for over three decades. While we understand the term hero is primarily reserved for soldiers in battle, our goal is to highlight exemplars of good citizenship here at home.
Get this in your e-mail. Subscribe below.
