US Treasury

That Missing $21,000,000,000,000

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skidmoreJoseph P Farrell – You know things are in a bad state when an economics professor at one of the country’s most prestigious research universities, the Michigan State University, says that there’s about $21,000,000,000,000 missing, and when he says that in spite of his best efforts to find out where it went, he meets a stone wall of obfuscation, buck-passing, and missing links. The story has now captured the attention of Mr. Greg Hunter, well-known financial commentator at USAWatchdog.com(our thanks to Mr. V.T. for spotting and sharing this article):

Missing $21 Trillion Means Federal Government Is Lawless – Dr. Mark Skidmore

What’s intriguing here is not only the wall of obfuscation that Dr. Skidmore was confronted with, but also the conclusions he drew from it:

In one example, Skidmore found a huge transfer from the Treasury Department to the Army that, again, was not authorized. Keep in mind, the Army has an approved budget of  a little more than $120 billion a year. 

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Treasury Dept. Slammed for Failure to Recover Wasted TARP Funds

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tarpQuin Hillyer – Continuing a multi-year battle to save misspent taxpayer dollars, Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa on Tuesday demanded to know why the U.S. Treasury has recovered so little of the money wasted by federal officials from a housing program gone awry.

The IG found that $11 million had been spent not to help victims but instead “wasted on restaurant meals, employee gifts and a $500 per month company Mercedes.” Despite the report, the Treasury has recovered only $113,592 of the $11 million – just barely over 1 percent of the mal-spent funds. Grassley long has championed the causes of federal whistleblowers and departmental Inspectors General (IGs). In this case, the Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which was created during the housing/financial crisis late last decade, had unearthed large levels of wrongful spending in the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF), a kitty meant to directly help homeowners hurt during the crisis.

“There should be an appropriate measure of accountability,” Grassley wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, “including potential disciplinary action.” Continue reading →