Behind every economic policy—from infrastructure to healthcare, from tax cuts to social programs—is a budget. And behind every budget is an assumption about what money exists to spend. But what if those numbers aren’t telling the truth?
For decades, state and local governments have masked massive debts through accounting tricks and budget gimmicks, claiming balanced budgets while racking up unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities in the hundreds of billions.
This isn’t just an accounting problem—it’s a policy problem.
If our leaders are making policy based on misleading financial data, every economic decision becomes distorted. Programs get underfunded, taxes rise unpredictably, and the federal government is forced to bail out failing state budgets—paid for by all American taxpayers.
When states like Illinois and California tout surpluses while hiding billions in debt, it leads to broken promises and policies built on financial illusions.
Until we reform government accounting:
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Economic policy will be reactive, not responsible.
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Federal bailouts will become the norm.
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And taxpayers will continue footing the bill for irresponsible budgeting.
Transparent, honest accounting isn’t a technical side issue—it’s the foundation of every sound economic policy. If the numbers lie, the policy fails.