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.

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.

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.   

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.

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.

The authors of this letter recently came together in a Citizens-Hero Conference to make clear that the real financial obligations of the U.S. Federal government range from $123.8 trillion to about $200 trillion depending on the accounting methodology used to account for the promises the U.S. federal government has made regarding Social Security and Medicare.  

When the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) is fully implemented and state and local governments’ financial reports become machine-readable, both bond issuers (such as state and local governments) and bond buyers (investors) will experience significant benefits.

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.

Truth in Accounting believes the California wildfires are a horrific tragedy that highlights the real-life impact of public policy. As a nonpartisan organization, we look at the numbers. But as people, we see the human toll, and our hearts go out to the people's suffering.

The Treasury Department hit its debt ceiling on January 21, meaning it can no longer borrow additional funds. While some may view this as a positive development, the reality is more complicated. To work around this limitation, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has declared we are in a "debt issuance suspension period." In other words, we’ve hit our credit limit, but we’re using accounting gimmicks to pretend we haven’t.

As part of a sneak peek to our annual Financial State of the Cities report, we have released the Financial State of Chicago. 

While the city of Chicago grapples with its next budget, its financial condition has deteriorated by $2.6 billion, leaving each Chicago taxpayer with a Taxpayer Burden™ of $40,600 and earning it an “F” grade according to our new report.

New SEC Chair Paul Atkins should investigate the misleading and confusing accounting practices in municipal securities.

Our fifteenth annual Financial State of the States (FSOS) report provides a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health of all 50 states.