Exposing government lies: A snapshot of the real US debt, and a more accurate read on inflation

Great rant at Money and Markets today on the fake-government-number issue I've been harping on.

I find it fascinating that government requires Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and mandates that companies follow GAAP, while going out and doing the exact opposite, things that would get them arrested in the private sector, plainly distorting the nation's books.

Folks, you're being lied to, you're being taken as suckers, and we are beyond screwed.

How Washington’s Enron-Style Accounting Makes The Great Corporate Scandals of This Decade Look Like Little White Lies by Comparison

Much like major auditing firms review the books of a GM or IBM, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits the books of Uncle Sam, including its departments and agencies.

But in its latest year-end media advisory, the GAO plainly states that

“For the ninth straight year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is unable to provide an opinion as to whether the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government are presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.”

In other words, the same government that is aggressively pursuing corporations for bad accounting is the most guilty of similar practices.

In an earlier report to Congress, GAO Director and U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker bluntly explained it this way:

“The current system of federal financial reporting provides an unrealistic and even misleading picture of the government’s overall performance and financial condition ... A key lesson from Enron, WorldCom and other business failures is that our free-market system depends on public confidence in the accuracy of ... financial information.”