Maybe you keep a checkbook or update a spreadsheet to track your spending — well, so does the government.
asserted
government → keep → spending
From agency spending to grants, this is laid out on a website called USAspending.gov.
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this → lay → website
This September marks the 20-year anniversary of the bipartisan legislation, spearheaded by the late Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), that created this key oversight platform.
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that → mark → platform
We work hard for our paychecks, and we want our government to work just as hard to put our tax dollars to good use.
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government → work → use
USAspending was created to provide an easy-to-use window into the federal government’s spending, allowing the government and the public to assess how funds were spent and identify systemic waste or fraud.
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funds → create → waste
While USAspending was a marked improvement, it’s still not providing a full picture of exactly how and where taxpayer dollars are being used, nor is it updated in near real time like your personal account.
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it → provide → account
As the Trump administration considers ways to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse, it should start by improving data collection.
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it → consider → collection
You can’t manage what you can’t measure, and there can be no accountability without visibility.
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you → manage → visibility
According to the Project on Government Oversight’s analysis of publicly available data from USASpending.gov, more than 74% of the reviewed federal grant funding could not be tracked to the local level.
uncertain
% → accord → level
If you or I wanted to find out how our taxpayer dollars are supporting Medicaid recipients in our own town, for instance, that data isn’t available.
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data → want → instance
On top of that, the federal government awards money to intermediary recipients, who are then charged with further dispersing the funds to the grant’s ultimate beneficiaries.
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who → award → beneficiaries
And we have far too little information on those middlemen.
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we → have → middlemen
All we know is that the funding, on a high level, exists.
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funding → know → level
When we don’t know which communities are receiving federal funds, we don’t know if these government programs are making an impact.
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programs → know → impact
For example, the government has two programs that pay companies to make improvements to broadband access.
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that → have → access
But the government has not published data showing exactly where those funds were ultimately spent.
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funds → publish → data
How do we know if the money is helping our communities?
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money → know → communities
Vague data also make it harder to detect when there’s genuine fraud and waste.
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it → make → ?
Without a clear understanding of where and how the government is spending money, it becomes easier for bad actors to pilfer federal grant money over time.
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actors → spend → time
Taxpayers have no idea how billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded grant money — which is supposed to support states, local governments, school systems, doctors’ offices, and nonprofit organizations that do important work in communities across the country — gets spent.
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that → have → country
Americans deserve to know where their tax dollars end up, who benefits from them, and whether they are achieving the results the government promised.
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government → deserve → results
USAspending.gov was an important first step, but we need a new bipartisan effort to pass legislation that allows any American to access detailed information about the way the government is using their money.
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government → need → money
We also need to speed up the reporting time to USAspending from 30 days to as close to real time as possible.
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We → need → time
Taxpayers should be able to track their tax dollars as easily as they can track their personal accounts online.
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they → track → accounts
After all, it’s their money.
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it → ’ → ?
Reps. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) and Jimmy Panetta’s (D-CA) Expedited Transparency Act would be a big step in the right direction by shortening the reporting time to USAspending to three days.
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Act → shorten → days
As we celebrate America’s 250th, we don’t have to look back to our founding to find examples of consensus and serious governance.
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we → celebrate → consensus
The bipartisan legislation that created USASpending gave us an example and a foundation upon which to build.
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that → create → which
Our great experiment in which government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed works only when citizens have access to information.
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citizens → derive → information
That’s an experiment worth perfecting.
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That → ’ → ?
The Aporia
