CPA

“The first step in treating Washington’s spending addiction is for the political class to admit is has a problem. This means being honest with taxpayers about the debts politicians are racking up. … The Obama Administration has refused to provide such an accounting in its official budget, which is indefensible under the traditonal rules to government-sponsored entites. … Taxpayers have been rightly appalled at the $111 billion they’ve been forced to contribute to these failed housing projects since the takeover, but that figure doesn’t begin to describe the taxpayer obligations. … [The CBO] estimates suggest that the toxic twins will consume almost $380 billion from the 2008 takeover through 2020. … What is clear is that no one in official Washington is counting the $1.6 trillion in corporate debt issued by Fan and Fred as taxpayer debt, even though we all know who’s on the hook for it. Not even Citigroup maintained and off-balance-sheet SIV as big as this one”, WSJ Editorial, 23 February 2010, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704259304575043573979877134.html.