To the editor:

All government agencies, federal, state or local are supposed to be audited each year. So how do we end up with surprises from wasteful, if not outright illegal, spending by USAID? Should we expect more disgusting results from other government organizations? Once again though, except for national security issues (which the government selectively uses as a questionable cover), why are the audits not being put on the internet for the masters (the taxpayers) to look over? Are they even being done according to General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)? You might be surprised that this is not always the standard that government agencies comply with.

All spending bills originate in the U.S. House, but the U.S. Senate has to also approve the money being spent, followed by the President’s signature. Most citizens think that the term “general welfare,” in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution means Uncle Sam can spend money, or go further into debt in an almost infinite number of ways. Such thinking is a great blessing to the lobbyists that saturate Congress, with promises 1984 of money for reelection and other under-the-table compensation, if federal lawmakers will support the lobbyists’ agendas.

How many ploys for money truly represent the “general welfare?” Very few, as a single item, in a bill all by itself, could pass both houses of Congress, by a wide margin, if it was truly for the “general welfare.” Since each of us have heard the labels “garbage” or “pork” spending, which are piles upon piles of special interests spending grouped together, the term “general welfare” has taken on a double meaning that would make George Orwell jealous. Promise the majority of lawmakers, something for their pet project or local area, and then enough members will vote “yes,” while holding back the urge to puke. It’s 1984 on steroids.

We should still pray and work towards returning to the small, limited government set up purposely by the Founding Fathers, as our current trajectory parallels the fall of the Roman Empire. Why doesn’t Congress stop such foolishness? Part of the answer was exposed back in 2004, when some ethics complaints about Tom Delay from Texas, were surfacing, the ABC Capitol Hill Correspondent, from the Jun 15, 2004 Evening News, said that “Democrats and Republicans have had an informal agreement not to investigate each other, a truce that has lasted seven years.” How many other periods of time, even now, is such a practice allowed?

Leo R. Lindquist

Balaton