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14
Sep
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by QuestionGirl • 7:59 pm
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From USA Today:
Financial records at the Pentagon and Homeland Security Department are so disorganized and inconsistent that they cannot be audited fully, making them subject to waste, fraud and abuse.
That’s the conclusion of an Associated Press review of the two departments’ files.
In 1997 Congress ordered that outside auditors must examine federal agencies’ books. But neither Defense nor Homeland Security - created just four years ago - has met even basic accounting standards, the AP concludes.
“It means we really can’t put any faith in the numbers they use,” said Ross Rubenstein, who teaches public administration at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School.
Most of the 15 agencies examined pass their audits. But several - notably NASA, the Coast Guard and FEMA - have been cited for serious accounting errors.
Furthermore, AP writes:
And the Defense Department, with a $460 billion budget this fiscal year, has never even come close to passing. Because that department makes up at least 20 percent of all federal spending, the entire federal government also has failed its audits since the congressional mandate took effect.
Filed: DOD, Homeland Security, Incompetence
