Office of Management & Budget

I am writing to inform you of a revolutionary idea that will, both in the short-term and long-term, save the federal government a great deal of money.

It will also make a huge contribution to the laudable goal of accountability and financial transparency. 

This will help to restore citizens' eroding faith in the honesty of their government. 

The idea is a simple one, yet I believe it would be extremely effective. I have been promoting it since 2000.

This is my proposal: Post all government finances to the Internet on a daily basis. I believe this would effectively root out waste, corruption and fraud. It would bring all the Federal Government's financial dealings into the clear light of day. 

It would also, I believe, prove extremely popular with the voters, who are sick of the misuse of taxpayers' money at all levels of government, and the secretive systems that make such abuse possible.

In the Post the Finances system, each government department or agency would be responsible for posting its finances to its own Website. My website at www.postthefinances.com gives more details of the system, and of my efforts in promoting it. 

So far, although I have approached many political leaders at all levels of the government, including President George W. Bush and U.S. Senator John Kerry, no one has yet had the courage to come out in public support of this proposal, although I have received many private words of encouragement from influential people. 

It seems that everyone is waiting to see who will jump first, but no one wants to be the one who takes the plunge.

What Post the Finances needs is a visionary leader who is prepared to break out of the pack mentality and initiate a bold new system that will take government accounting into the twenty-first century. 

I am certain this will happen at some point in the future. The logic behind it is irrefutable: government money is taxpayers' money, so every taxpayer has a right to see, in detail, how that money is used. 

Up until recent years, such a goal has been impractical, but with the coming of the Internet and the almost unbelievable leaps in information technology that have taken place in the last few years, what was formerly impossible is now easily possible. So why not enact Post the Finances right now?

My suggestion to you is this: initially, implement Post the Finances in just one federal government department, say the I.R.S. Monitor it and allow people to adapt to new realities. 

Then, after the initial sample, when the Post the Finances system is completed, my suggestion is that the Federal Government gradually convert all the government departments to the same "Post the Finances" system.

I have confidence that one day there will be a civic leader who will take up this great challenge. 

That leader will be open to new ideas, and believe in the welfare of all your residents of the United States at heart. 

With Post the Finances, I believe those residents will be given a gift that will long outlast our tenure of our lifetime. 

History always lauds the pioneers, this leader will be remembered.

I have thought long and hard about the Post the Finances idea, and have campaigned for it vigorously. I am confident it can stand scrutiny of time. 

If you need any more information, see www.postthefinances.com