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Indicator: 1
Measurements in/of Outlays
Other Information:
For a lot of folks, the big kahuna is knowing where the money goes: outlays. An outlay - literally, the laying out of funds
- satisfies an obligation. It's the movement of money from the U.S. Treasury to the outside world.
| Type |
Actual |
Target |
| StartDate |
|
2011-12-14 |
| EndDate |
2011-12-14 |
|
| Machine-Readable Format |
C- |
|
| Description |
Outlay numbers are fairly well reported after the fact and in the aggregate. All you have to do is look at the appendices
to the president's budget to see how much money has been spent in the past. But outlay data can be much, much more detailed
and timely than that. Each outlay goes to a particular party. Each outlay is done on a particular project or program at the
behest of a particular bureau and agency. And each outlay occurs because of a
particular budget authority. Right now these details about outlays are nowhere to be found. Now, there are plenty
of people inside the government who are very familiar with the movement of taxpayer money in the government. They will be
inclined to say, "it's more complicated than that," and it is! But it's going to have to get quite a bit less complicated
before these processes can be called transparent. The time do de-complicate outlays is now. It's another
feat of generosity to give this area a C-. That's simply because there is an authoritative source for aggregate past
outlay data. As the grades other areas come up, outlay data that stays the same could go down. Waaaayyy down.
|
De-complicate outlays. |
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