CAFR's - The Government's Best Kept Financial Secret

[JoshERTW]

Please read this very interesting report about actual US Gov't finances. I guess this is where all that black budget money and bailout cash comes from. Next time your representatives are saying they have a deficit - dig up one of these reports and cite it. See what they say.

http://www.wanttoknow.info/banking_f...ancial_reports

[JoshERTW]

Dear friends,
The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is a very little known, yet detailed presentation of a US governmental entity's financial condition. The CAFR is also one of government's best kept financial secrets, as these reports show that almost all governments have far more money than people would ever suspect. Literally hundreds of billions of dollars are available to governments in investment accounts that are never mentioned to the public, as verified in these publicly available government reports. Read the powerful essay below to find out how we may be in much less fiscal difficulty than you ever imagined.
With best wishes,
Fred Burks for PEERS and the WantToKnow.info Team
Former language interpreter for Presidents Bush and Clinton
P.S. The article's author, Harvard-trained Carl Herman, is a personal friend and educator whose work I admire.

CAFR: US agencies have billions, trillions in investments while crying budget deficits
By Carl Herman (edited for brevity and clarity, full essay available here)
Gerald Klatt and Walter Burien are unrecognized heroes. These individuals are pioneering national leaders who have revealed how government agencies quietly conceal American taxpayers’ money in surplus accounts that collectively total literally trillions of taxpayers' dollars. The data is found and can be verified in publicly available documents for each governmental entity called Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs).
What CAFRs reveal is a little-known, yet devious policy whereby taxpayers collectively surrender enormous assets to the government, which then invests the trillions that swell in these accounts. As this money is secreted away, taxpayers are warned of debilitating budget deficits to either squeeze more taxes from them and/or cut public services. To add insult to injury, the state commits a gross lie of omission by never informing citizens of their withheld trillions as they eliminate jobs, reduce education, and attack the quality of our lives.
The American Constitution is a contract of limited government whereby the public informs and is informed by our representatives. CAFRs are damning public documents that expose political leadership from both left and right as exactly what leading economic voices have said: a thoroughly corrupt and self-serving oligarchy.
Let’s look at the economic data revealed in CAFRs for 2009.
Take California, for example, which has a budget deficit of about $20 billion. The combined investments reported in CAFRs for the state of California, Los Angeles County, and the City of Los Angeles is over $450 billion! That's over 22 times the amount of the budget shortfall!!! Click on the links for verification.
These governments claim they need this money mainly for public employee retirement benefits. Let’s check that story. The CAFR data shows current member contributions pay for all retiree benefits except for $1.8 billion (net cost). If just these three state agencies paid off their budget deficits, paid the $1.8 billion in retirement benefits, and surrendered the remaining withheld money back to the public, each taxpayer in California (population 36 million, taxpayers less than 2/3 of this number) would receive well over $15,000.
Why has political leadership and corporate media not informed American taxpayers of this intriguing option? And why isn't this data publicly submitted for professional and independent economist cost-benefit analysis to consider other options which benefit both government and the people? As we all know, money talks and power corrupts.
So far, we’ve only considered three CAFRs in the state of California. The comprehensive reality is far more dramatic. Looking at all of California’s roughly 10,000 cities, counties, towns, and other government agencies, the combined total assets reported in CAFR's, according to Walter Burien’s sampling analysis, is $8 trillion. Let’s say Walter is way off. For argument’s sake, let’s say the total is less than half of Burien's estimate; only $3 trillion. If that amount was returned to the public, even after paying off all debts and pension expenses, each Californian taxpayer would receive well over $100,000!
Obviously, we need independent auditing and economic cost-benefit analyses of all state and local CAFRs around the US in order to make clear choices on how the public benefit might best be served. In California, oppressed under a $20 billion dollar budget deficit that cuts education, child welfare, and other essential public services, continued "investing” of these vast sums of money is likely among the worst of choices imaginable.
To put this into an analogy:
This is like a teenager claiming to everyone that he needs money badly because the front pockets of his pants are empty, which he dutifully shows (budget debt). What he's not telling you is that his back pockets are stuffed with over 100 times the money he says he "needs" (shown in various places of the CAFRs). Whenever someone by chance sees the wads of money stuffed in his back pockets and asks him about it, he says, "Oh, that money is being saved for when I need it much later. I can't touch that."
So far, the silence of major media and political leadership from left and right is deafening. Of course, the politicians' claim of "I can't touch that" is a lie of omission, because it can be touched the moment policy changes. So the real issue is the heart of economics: what are the costs and benefits of different choices?
Here’s the specific data and documentation:
Using the example of the California CAFR, state pension and “other” trusts investments total $367 billion. Net pension benefits payable from that $367 billion in 2009 was $1.8 billion (retiree payouts minus current member contributions). Subtracting other liabilities ($48 billion in securities lending obligations - page 212), the state of California is holding onto over $300 billion of the public’s money that could be used for other purposes (pages 48, 49 of the report).
The misleading information on pages 154-155 of the California report suggests retirement funds are not fully funded. However, the fact is that over $300 billion is being held in investments for $1.8 billion paid out in net benefits. How many votes do you think our present policy would receive from the California public given the alternative of receiving say $15,000 each.
$143 billion of the California CAFR surplus is invested in “equity securities” (stocks) and $92 billion in debt securities (page 83-84). $72 billion is dependent upon foreign markets (page 88). This means that the government quietly “invests” public moneys in Wall Street, big banks, government debts (which may not even be necessary given the existence of CAFR funds), and foreign corporations. Consider that these monies may also be used to curry influence among politicians and the corporate elite.
The UC system, California's top network of universities, had a 2009-10 budget deficit of $0.65 billion. The policy response was to deny 2,300 students enrollment, lay off 2,000 faculty and staff, cut salaries 10%, and raise tuition 32%. For less than 1/3 of one percent of the investment total of California CAFR funds, UC could have been fully funded and those reductions eliminated.
California’s 20,000 laid-off teachers could be rehired at $70,000/year for $3.4 billion; less than 1% of these three CAFR “investments” total.
One cost of this deception: Governor Schwarzenegger announced a 41% cut for the 2010 budget in "general government" services including elimination of CALWORKS (welfare to work and child-care program affecting 1.4 million people, two thirds of them children), and sharp decreases in health and welfare programs for single mothers, low-income children, foster youth, disabled, and senior citizens.
Los Angeles County has $52 billion in investments (pages 61-63), the City of Los Angeles has $36 billion (page 80). Both have drastically cut programs. Both have pension plans fully funded by payments from current members and less than 2% of the CAFR investment totals.

[Jonathon]

Yes, the assets creating these funds are the birth certificate (bonds) of each individual born in the state. When a parent as executive trustee (of the child's private property) grants and conveys the child's property (body) to the state via the application for birth certification, a bond is created with the child's property (and future earnings/value) as surety for the bond. My understanding is that the reason these are so secret is because technically the child as the paramount security interest holder has rights to these multi-billion dollar bonds once they reach the age of 18 and should be able to use the asset to offset any and all debts relating to costs of living and education etc. You see in a bankrupt society, public money (debt or money of account) is created or re-venued (change of venue from private to public) from private assets (tangible value - private works and property). Because the BC bond along with the social security corporate trust/bond you set up when you are ready to work represent the multi-fractionalized value of everything one person will ever create (which is a a lot when you consider every bank and promissory note you will ever sign), it can be construed into boat loads of public money. Realize that all money is created by the private individual, regardless of who 'prints' it. Everything is based on you. Unless the private person asserts their right and position in these trusts, the holder in due course (government agencies) can basically do whatever they want with them. The less you know about it, the greater the chance you will never attempt to assert your commercial rights.

[sojorner]

Even if you do know the facts...it's still difficult to get remedy, set-off and the like.

I know..I'm still trying.

Soj

[JoshERTW]

So Jon,

How do I cash in my bonds ?

[Jonathon]

Posted by JoshERTW (here)
So Jon,

How do I cash in my bonds ?

Lots of groups working on this very thing, however I do not expect you will ever be able to 'cash' them in because they are leveraged out to the hilt. To cash it in would mean de-leveraging everything based on them... and not even God knows the extent to which this is the case. Further, it would 'damage the public' and the guardians/creditors would never let that happen. We are bankrupt. Until we pay the debt, likely remedy will only be available in relative portions -- that being the limited ability to set off debts, which many of us have been able to do in various circumstances.

The financial system is VERY 'matrix-like'... your commercial energy is captured and distributed as seen fit without your express knowledge. Only once you begin to gain the knowledge and act in accordance with it will you stand any chance of utilizing any of it for any purpose. This utilization will not come without sufficient 'testing' of your knowledge, heart and intention.

[Rocky_Shorz]

is it good news to find out we aren't really broke?

or is it just 1 more reason to get upset at those telling us lies...


after all the bashing that has been on the air for months, I'm ready to vote... NONE OF THE ABOVE!!!

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