I'm watching you and neocon throw up your hands about the futility of accounting. Have faith !
We should refuse to be sheep led to the slaughter - even tho' that's the passive posture we tend to given the self-serving nature of seemingly overwhelming bureacracy.
The leadership role has been abandoned, that would say, "the American people demand better accountability" and make suggestions on accomplishing it.
It's not even so much a matter of legislation as public exposure and humiliation. The gambling den in military bases would be stopped in its tracks if it had to be exposed on the "Military Recreation" section of the web site, because someone could easily find it, if it were displayed in an orderly manner prescribed by some (ANY!) reasonable accounting standard to be followed by all departments.
It's simple to demand an SEC type attitude at the GAO, as just one example, off the top of the head.
The SEC sets standards for examining MANY TRILLIONS MORE in public company revenues, and as screwed up as they are with the lying and thieving in the emerging Enron-type scandals, they accomplish one basic task: establishing the presumption that accountability is necessary and possible.
Without it, investors would abandon the capital markets.
It may be that taxpayers should threaten a tax revolt until accountability is established, at least as good as SEC. Which is 10X better than it is now.
There's another important fact that's established with the SEC and scandals of Enron: anything hidden will hide liars and thieves.
It's human nature. If men were angels there'd be no need for accountability, to paraphrase Adams. So, just imagine anything you can't see in the federal government, and you will imagine the extent of mischief and waste, as well as predatory criminal enterprises within the government.
The idea of accountability, if lost, should be answered with taxpayer revolt. Obfuscation ends up being a dictatorship. Especially when those at the top preside over a giant, mass of hidden funding commanded by an all-powerful Executive Branch that will, further, keep all deliberations, past and present, secret.
Just look at the accountability of Russia. |
