Criticism of the mismanagement of the auto by those sitting in Congress smacks of arrogant hypocrisy. James Grant noted in the November/ December 2008 issue of Foreign Policy:

“In the fiscal year 2007, the government took in $2.6 trillion, 7.6% more than it did in fiscal year 2006. Since 2003, federal cash collections have increased by an average of $200 billion a year. Are imposts of this size truly necessary? Do they advance the national interests in a time of evident recession? In a new report, the Government Accountability Office charges that federal agencies last year mislaid, or misdirected, $55 billion dollars. In 2006, $41 billion went missing. Last year, for the 11th consecutive year, the GAO refused to opine on the government’s financial statements, but it did cite, amongst other deficiencies, accounting chaos at the Department of Defense. As a matter of simple equity, plugging the leaks in the sieve of the state should precede any new tax increases.”

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