NO, NO, NO, IT WASN'T ME :

Washington masks deficits using accounting tricks (USA Today, 07/15/2002)

Lost in all of the political posturing over a worsening federal deficit and spreading corporate scandals is one ugly fact: The accounting tricks used by U.S. companies are nothing compared with Washington's bookkeeping circus.

Congress and the White House, under both parties, have long played games to exaggerate income, disguise liabilities and cover up troublesome budget realities. As with corporate accounting tricks, the tactics allow lawmakers to hide true financial situations, and their own irresponsible behavior, from "shareholders."

Except in this case, they're the taxpayers who foot the bill.

In the government's latest restatement, the Office of Management and Budget acknowledged this past weekend that the deficit for the current year is going to be more than 50% bigger than previously acknowledged: $165 billion instead of the $106 billion optimistically claimed five months ago.

Here's an idea, why don't Dick Gephardt and John McCain co-sponsor a law that would apply to Congress all these new corporate accountability gimmicks that they're ginning up. Anyone who knowingly votes for, and any president who signs, a budget that doesn't follow accepted accounting practices does hard time in a Federal pen. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 16, 2002 3:35 PM