If The US Govt Were Run Like A Business, It Would Need $42 Tln
Thursday, February 26, 2015 - 15:22
By Denny Gulino
WASHINGTON (MNI) - The Treasury Department Thursday issued its latest version of an alternative budget accounting for the U.S. government, one that parallels the methodology used in business and which suggests the U.S. is just $42 trillion shy of keeping up with its obligations.
The Financial Report of the Government uses accrual accounting to tally up its assets versus its liabilities.
The liabilities in the government's case are mainly all the promised Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits for the decades ahead.
The report finds that the total present value of future expenditures in excess of future revenue to be $41.9 trillion.
The numbers provide "a comprehensive overview of the government's current financial position as well as critical insight into our long-term fiscal outlook," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew wrote in a forward to the 252-page document.
As it does every year, the Government Accountability Office inserts a letter to the report, which goes to Capitol Hill, saying that its audit of the government's consolidated financial statement reveals "certain material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting."
"Significant uncertainties," the GAO continued, "prevented us from expressing an opinion" on many of the underlying documents.
--MNI Washington Bureau; tel: +1 202-371-2121; email:
dgulino@mni-news.com
US Treasury Department: If The US Govt Were Run Like A Business, It Would Need $42 Trillion
