By Reps. James B. Renacci and John Carney, ROLL CALL
In Washington, we know that the federal government spends more than it takes in and that it borrows more than it should, but do we really know where our finances stand?
The answer is simple: we don’t. What we do know is that the federal government does not adequately account for assets, expenditures and liabilities on its annual financial statement. That means we don’t know how much money we have, how much money we spend and how much money we owe. How can Congress make decisions about our country’s financial future if we don’t have a clear picture of our finances today?
We are encouraged that there is a growing consensus among Democrats, Republicans and independents in Congress that we must reduce our debt and eliminate our deficits; however, there is little agreement on how to accomplish this goal. Part of the problem is that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the actual size of our assets, liabilities and deficit. Lawmakers, media personalities and opinion leaders commonly discuss the need to fix the country’s budget, but at the end of the day, no one actually knows the full extent of the problem. It’s time for the federal government to be honest with the American people and provide the transparency and accountability that they expect and deserve.