71 The Real Game of Missing Money See also: · DOD IG: $1.1 trillion missing (https://www.whereisthemoney.org/1.1trillion.htm) · HUD IG: $59 billion missing (https://www.whereisthemoney.org/59billion.htm) · Enforce the Constitution (https://constitution.solari.com/) · The Missing Money (https://missingmoney.solari.com/) Here is more I wrote in the process of trying to hold a Congressman on the budget and appropri- ations committees accountable: In June 2001 the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, published its study, “Government at the Brink.” The study describes the failure of federal govern- ment agencies to maintain reliable financial systems and/or to publish indepen- dent annual audited financial statements as required by law. The President’s initial 2002 budget (before increases for 9-11) proposed that approximately 85% of all federal appropriations be awarded to the very same agencies the Thompson study states either (a) fail to maintain reliable financial systems, (b) fail to publish trustworthy or, in some cases, any, independent certified finan- cial statements (as required by law), or both. At that same time, Congressman Steve Horn (R-Calif.), Chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations issues a report card regarding attempts by federal agencies to produce reliable annual audited financial statements. Other reports from sources like agency inspec- tors general and government whistleblowers charge that the problems are much deeper than mere accounting: they allege stolen and missing inventory (planes, tanks, etc.) and in some cas- es actually admit that they rely on black budget funding (i.e., funding that is “off balance sheet” and not subject to Congressional over- sight). The existence of such reports requires that we ask whether the very government officials and contractors who are paid hand- somely to protect and manage our resources in accordance with the law are looting the federal government. Total undocumented accounting adjustments for reported periods for the Department of Defense (fall of 1997 to date) amount to a whopping $3.3 trillion, or $11,700 for every American. (Many American families don’t even have $11,700 in savings in their bank accounts.) The Department of Defense has failed to produce independent