How could this be? Those Rich Fat Cats that the Admin is always blaming got carte blanche from the Treasury Department. Hypocrisy in Washington DC. Again.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130128/AUTO0103/301280422
Glad to see an auditor bring this to light.
HMCRich
pssst..
that auditor was employed by the US government
what a crock of ; how in the blank are these fat cats milking the system for even more. how much is enough. my god when i was a youngster top executive pay was like 20 times of a person on the factory floor. now it is 100 times +. the fact is the fat cat executive still puts on there pants one leg at a time. even 20 times was more than enough.
It's Bush's fault.
smitty
"it's Bush's fault"
actually, there is some truth to that..
the policies his administration followed allowed the excess that occurred...
but it's not just Bush's fault that those CEOs aren't doing jail time for the fraud they perpetuated.
JoB, No kidding. Geez
Republicans aren't against government. All citizens have a responsibility to support, within reason, our local state and federal government. That's not the issue.
Government waste is rampant, and the hypocrisy of the Federal Government and this administration's lack of fiscal responsibility is glaring. If Bush had done this you would be accusing him and his admin of being Fascists. At least in your last post you did lay some blame elsewhere.
Every administration has waste. Thank God for the Government auditors. You have to admit that it is nice that someone is trying to be responsible, or are you going to make fun of them too and ignore the problem because your guys are in charge?
HMCRich..
i didn't make fun of anybody ... it's not my style
nor is turning a blind eye to the errors made by the current administration..
as it turns out i am an evidence based kind of woman
yes, Clinton opened the door by signing legislation written and sponsored by republicans
i thought it was a really stupid move then and i still think so..
but he didn't call off the SEC watchdogs
Bush did that.
Obama refuses to prosecute
he listens to the bozos who convinced Clinton to ignore the reasons we created a fire wall that required lending institutions to assume full liability for the loans they wrote...
those financial wizards turn out to have more in common with con artists than with sound business principals..
if insanity is making the same mistakes and expecting a different outcome.. this is a clear case of national insanity.
as it happens, two of these three Presidents are democrats
and i think they made some pretty stupid moves
but it was the republican who chose to ignore the fraud.
which is something you seem to have a difficult time recognizing.
i hope Obama's current cabinet choices show that he is willing to take a more aggressive stance..
but politics doesn't generally have a whole lot to do with integrity... so i am not hoping for much.
HMC Rich...in Post #6 you stated that gov't. waste is rampant. Did you all know that the Pentagon cannot be audited? Amazing, huh...
" Did you all know that the Pentagon cannot be audited? "
What do you mean by that? Can't - as in legally can't - or can't - as in is so damn big and complex that they can't get their hands around it?
The latter is my understanding of the situation.
IMO, ALL government agencies need to be audited. What they divulge as far as public specifics is another (security) matter.
Smitty..
my understanding is that the answer to that is can't be legally audited
Smitty, the Pentagon is exempt from the federal law that says all gov't. agencies must be audited once a ear. It has never passed an audit of any kind. Supposedly, it has no idea how much money it actually has. There are people working to change the law, but you know how that goes...
waterworld
Member Profile
JanS and JoB: Where in federal law does it say the Pentagon is exempt from auditing by the GAO? Cuz I don't see it anywhere. It's true that the GAO has not been able to audit the DoD, but I don't think it's because the DoD is exempt. The GAO has issued a litany of reports that cite "pervasive deficiencies" in the DoD's financial systems, business management systems, and financial controls -- going back many years -- that render the Department's financial statements "unauditable." The Pentagon has promised reforms year after year, and it may have even made some changes here and there, but the GAO says that it will still be many years before the the DoD achieves "full audit readiness."
Here are some links to GAO's press releases on the issue:
http://www.gao.gov/highrisk/risks/dod-management/financial_management.php
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-642T
I agree, WW, I think they've been granted exceptions for years and keep getting one every time they say, "sorry, we're workin' on it"...
Nice.
Can I use that excuse for my tax returns??
this is from July, 2011. DeFazio's amendment passed the House, but I'm not sure if it got any farther than that. I will continue to search..
http://www.defazio.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=717&Itemid=70
from Aug., 2012:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/tom-coburn-pentagon-audit_n_1812229.html
again, it doesn't say if it passed...so it seems to me that the Pentagon is still exempt...
If the Pentagon can't be audited...wait ... HHS HAS been audited and has done nothing about it. Government has no incentive to control costs... it has tax revenue and unlimited borrowing. Businesses who don't pay attention to numbers should fail.... even Government Motors. They have to audit. And they have to take corrective action.
where is accountability?
Accountability is SOOO 1950's.
The Military Industrial Complex doesn't like to be questioned. Be a good little citizen and go back to watching American Idol. See? Isn't that better, you nutty, cookoo citizen.
Now (thankfully), the adults can get back to doing god's work for 'Merika.
...crazy kids...
Eisenhower was correct when he stated to watch out for the MIC. The MIC needs to be audited and some heads role if any significant shenanigans has occurred.
Well, let's see. For starters, the GAO found that the DOD couldn't account for PALLETS of $100 US bills in Iraq to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Does that count?
Probably not enough for a head to roll or anything. I mean, that's kinda' like losing a free McDonald's Happy Meal coupon on a relative scale. No big whoop.
Wakeflood, Good for you. It matters to me. Good, lets clean out government from within and from pressure outside. That is my main gripe against the media. They are supposed to watch dogs, not lap dogs.
Aren't you tired of the last and current administration, DC Representatives and Senators, and non elected officials lying to you?
I know I am.
JoB, I am glad you are waxing into reality again. Good to have you back.
Now, Mr. Bush was not successful in his attempts to bring the housing bubble under control. No, The House and Senate when led by both parties ignored the issues. They are all culpable. ALL. ALL.
April 2001 Bushes Budget brought up concern about the GSE's
2003 The Bush administration was pushing congress to start a new government agency to regulate and supervise Fanny and Freddy. Treasury Secretary Snow came up to the Hill and warned of the problems of the GSE BUT Barney Frank Blew him off, told a contradictory view. He said the WH and Repubs had a sky is falling mentality and even if some of the institutions failed the Federal Gov wouldn't need to bail them out. Thanks a lot Barney. You were completely wrong.
Then in 2005 Allan Greenspan came up to the Hill to plead a case for regulating Fannie and Freddie. He said at one point... enabling these institutions to increase in size - and they will once the crisis in their judgement passes - We are placing the TOTAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM of the future at a substantial risk. Feb 17, 2005. But Chuck Shumer mightily defended the GSE's even after it was found they had made huge accounting mistakes.
Finally Senator McCain brought in legislation to regulate the GSE's. Democrats didn't vote for it on committee and Republicans never felt they could muster enough votes to bring it to a vote on the floor. After that Pelosi and Reid were fully in charge and two years later... POOF.
Don't tell me it was Bush's fault. It was both houses. More like Murray and Cantwell. Republicans yelled smoke, and Democrats ignored it and Republicans decide to ignore it too. Too bad there weren;t more fiscally savvy Democrats. Problems could have been averted. But Shumer and Frank hold the dunce caps.
of course it was the Dems...Dems do nothing right. You know those libs...
HMCRich
I have never been anyplace but reality.
I won't bother taking your post apart bit by bit..
revisionist history is such a slippery slope...
what you call a housing bubble i call mortgage fraud..
because that fraud was the basis of the the "bubble"
and to be clear here.. i am talking about the process of inflating the value of mortgages after they were granted to bundle them and sell them as financial assets...
not the hapless homeowners who may or may not have known that the income basis for their loans had been inflated.
fanny and freddie were late players to that game
Reports of Republicans flapping their wings at fannie and freddie is like the guy who shouts to the neighbors that the livestock are missing after he left the barn door open and shooed the livestock over the farthest hill
if you want to be impressed by that.. go for it
but to us fact based "fools" it doesn't read well
especially after those same players guaranteed the losses of the financial institutions
but left the mortgages and the funds that had purchased all of that bad paper out to dry.
JoB, started to respond to HMCR just as your post popped up and you said it firstest with the bestest. In other words, "what she said!" :-)
And anytime you have the court jester of "let's all go to the casino!", Greenmail, sorry, Greenspan, getting all CYA during testimony, you know you're in the middle of a 3-card Monty game. And you ain't the dealer.
WorldCitizen
Member Profile
Yeah, I'm also tired of hearing how Fannie and Freddy were the problem.
I'm on board with JoB...get a new fairy tale to model your arguments after as this one is getting old.
i so like it when my snark is appreciated :)
You must log in to post.
All contents copyright 2013, A Drink of Water and a Story Interactive. Here's how to contact us.
Header image by Nick Adams. ABSOLUTELY NO WSB PHOTO REUSE WITHOUT SITE OWNERS' PERMISSION.
Entries and comments feeds. ^Top^
westseattleblog
West Seattle Blog
West Seattle Blog