Walter J. Burien Jr. and his CAFR information

[Contestant #3]

I've just been exposed to Walter J. Burien and his incredible information concerning Comprhensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) of governmental entities.

To put it very very simply, he claims that government entities (such as the fed, state governments, county, and city governments) keep 2 sets of books. One set is the set that they use to show us taxpayers that they use to justify tax increases, the other set of books, (claims Burien), shows the truth of the real income and liquid assets that these governments have.

He generally claims that most governments in this country are so wealthy that they could stop taxing us for the next couple of decades.

Here are a couple of links:
http://www.financialprivacy.com/comprehe.htm

and
http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/cafr.htm

and
http://www.broadcast.com/shows/endoftheline/98archives.stm (click upon the December 11 show to hear an interview with Walter Burien)

Is anyone out there in SDMBland familar with this stuff? Is it really true? Opinions?



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Contestant #3

[Nickrz]

Sure it's true. They keep the second set of books at Roswell, NM.

[Contestant #3]

I'm surprised you wasted your time with that response Nickrz...I expected something more intelligent out of you.

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Contestant #3

[CatInHat]

I dunno, guys, I heard on NPR a few weeks ago that the Justice department does just that (keeps 2 sets of books, I mean; NPR didn't say anything about Roswell).

One set shows how many hours their lawyers actually work (lots more than 40 hrs/week), which they use to get more money from Congress. The other set shows that all the lawyers work 40 hours a week, so that they don't have to pay them overtime.

I know it's hard to feel sorry for lawyers, but in this case, I do, at least a little.

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The Cat In The Hat

[Sofa King]

Well, I'll be the first to acknowledge that book-cooking and government have gone hand-in-hand since time immemorial. Just look at that Indian Trust Fund craziness that's been going on: something like forty billion dollars not paid out over a century and absolutely no accounting for where it went.

But having read the main story in the above link, I can't help feeling a little undersold. Certainly at least some other wet-behind-the-ears Mr. Smiths have found out about these massive holdings and tried to get at them? What is all this money doing besides "escrowing?" I'd like to hear those stories in conjunction with these allegations.

[Contestant #3]

Outrageously large expense accounts...extremely lucritive government pension plans (much more so than those in the private sector)...to name a few.

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Contestant #3