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Welcome

Welcome to Truth In Government, a non-profit organization dedicated to revealing what Congress has kept hidden for many decades: how much money it really spends and how much money all of us taxpayers really owe.

Mission Statement

The mission of Truth in Government is to strengthen our country’s financial foundation by promoting accountability and transparency in Congressional spending and reporting.

Joe DioGuardi, former Congressman and president of Truth In Government, energizes "Audit the Fed" rally April 25, 2009

What We Do

Truth in Government is fearless and relentless in pursuing urgent, meaningful government reform in how the government budgeting and spending process works, and how Congressional accounting practices mislead the public. We also champion specific causes to correct Congressional mistakes, missteps, and neglect of human rights. We assist states and local municipalities in efforts to reform and reduce taxes.

We accomplish our mission through speaking at public, civic, and business events, and through distributing informative content in print, broadcast, and social media. Truth In Government:

• Informs citizens about the actual size and implications of the national debt

• Exposes the gimmickry in Congress’ accounting that conceals their fiscal irresponsibility

• Creates heightened awareness of key Congressional initiatives before they become law

• Promotes specific actions that will result in meaningful change

Truth In Government builds awareness through distribution of this expertly penned expose’ on Congress’ gimmicks and overspending.

Recent Appearances, Activities, and Speeches

• November 23, 2009 “Unaccountable Congress” speech, Joe DioGuardi, Republican Club of Sumter, Florida

• October 28, 2009 “Unaccountable Congress” speech, Joe DioGuardi, Lehman College, New York

• October 11, 2009 “Real Solutions to America’s Healthcare Reform” presentation by Joe DioGuardi (with Dr. Gez Agolli), Cobb Galleria Center, Atlanta, GA.

• July 21, 2009 “Sound budgeting, accounting, and financial reporting for the U.S. Government The time has come” speech, Joe DioGuardi, New York Rotary Club of Manhattan
• April 25, 2009 speech at “Audit the Fed” rally, Joe DioGuardi, City Hall, New York

• April 15, 2009 “The Advocates” radio interview of Joe DioGuardi, WVOX

• February 25, 2009 Testimony at the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, Joe DioGuardi.

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Jerome Corsi of Worldnet Daily discussed the true deficit of the federal government, $65.5 trillion, a number our children and grandchildren will be left carrying.

Using just last year as an example, the numbers already documented by the U.S. Treasury reveal the true debt.

The difference between the $455 billion “official” budget deficit numbers and the $5.1 trillion budget deficit cited by “2008 Financial Report of the United States Government” is that the official budget deficit is calculated on a cash basis, where all tax receipts, including Social Security tax receipts, are used to pay government liabilities as they occur.

Corsi quotes John Williams, whose above analysis charts the hidden fiscal bleeding on ShadowStats.com

“… There is no Social Security ‘lock-box.’ There are no funds held in reserve today for Social Security and Medicare obligations that are earned each year. It’s only a matter of time until the public realizes that the government is truly bankrupt and no taxes are being held in reserve to pay in the future the Social Security and Medicare benefits taxpayers are earning today.”

The federal government is bankrupt and our obligations exceed the world GDP.

It’s a “Ponzi Scheme” I first discussed in my book “Unaccountable Congress” — a book I wrote after four years in Congress and over 20 years in the accounting profession.

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It appears that the GAO (Government Accounting Office) is finally getting some funds to do job, according to this story this morning in USA Today:

The stimulus bill contains $330.5 million for oversight; $25 million for the Government Accountability Office, the non-partisan congressional agency, $84 million to create an accountability board within the White House and $221.5 million to the inspectors general who serve as department watchdogs.

USA Today asked if all of this prevent misuse of the money.

“While I’m sure that everybody will do their best, there’s no question there will be waste,” said David Walker, a former head of the GAO who is president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a non-partisan group that promotes federal fiscal responsibility. “The only question is, how much waste will there be?”

Walker said he’s encouraged by the focus on oversight but concerned that there may not be clear goals for what the spending is supposed to produce or guidelines for how the money is to be distributed and spent. “If you don’t have those rules in place, by merely having more people look at what’s happened after the fact, all you’re going to do is identify problems too late,” Walker said.

Walker is right. Washington usually discovers the problem after the money has been spent, and in some cases wasted. Just look at how Bernie Madoff duped the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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The following was first said by me about Congress in 1992, from my book Unaccountable Congress:

“New York proved the point: dishonest accounting and financial management systems lead to big problems. Congress and the State of New York fixed the Big Apple’s problems by insisting on the use of the rigorous GAAP standards. But Congress has been far less willing to impose the same tough standards on its own spending, lending, and guaranteeing, and on its own flock of GSEs. And so, when calamity overtook the Farm Credit System and the thrift industry, a large part of the federal government’s response was to concoct accounting devices–either to make it appear there was no problem or, failing that, give the impression that the problem was solved.

“It should be clear by now that we as a nation cannot tolerate this kind of dangerous deception in our public accounting. The crises described in this chapter alone are enough to boggle the taxpayers’ mind, as well as clean out his or her wallet. But, alas, there is more. There is the whole matter of federal retirement and pension systems, starting with the granddaddy of them all, Social Security.”

I called it Congressional Child Abuse, since we’re sending our kids that bill.

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Who Needs “Recovery.gov” When We Have Stimulus Watch?

President Obama’s Recovery.gov reminds me of my days in Congress when the White House would have its set of numbers, Congress would come up with its budget numbers and the auditors at the Federal Reserve had an accounting of the real damage.

George Mason University is directing people to a website called Stimulus Watch, courtesy of the Mercatus Center.

“StimulusWatch.org was built to help the new administration keep its pledge to invest stimulus money smartly, and to hold public officials to account for the taxpayer money they spend. We do this by allowing you, citizens around the country with local knowledge about the proposed “shovel-ready” projects in your city, to find, discuss and rate those projects. These projects are not part of the stimulus bill. They are candidates for funding by federal grant programs once the bill passes.”

In other words, the Mercatus Center is telling us the rest of the story — and the rest of the debt!!!

Hidden debt, for sure, and not something you will find on Recovery.gov.

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The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is taking the issues of transparency and accountability to task.

Back in May of last year, Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center warned of the dangers of off-budget items in supplemental bills — not much different from what will be hidden in the current stimulus package:

“Once a small blip among federal outlays, emergency supplemental spending has exploded since 2002 when the Republican Congress let a key legislative restriction on its use expire. Now supplemental bills are Congress and the Administration’s tool of choice for avoiding the annual budget caps and dramatically increasing government spending.”

Take a closer look at the Mercatus Center’s research on accountability and government oversight.

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