Why Not An Independent Audit For The State Of Georgia?

I think it is fair to say we are all incensed at the financial and accounting shenanigans that have been carried out by some of America's largest corporations. Not only that, great damage has been done to the credibility of public accounting firms by a few professional people who were not professional. Of the people I have talked with, I would say it is the business people who are most angry about the things that have gone on in Enron and Global Crossing. Anyone who has ever run a business, and faced the risk involved, knows it is possible to make some bum decisions and take a business down but these people committed fraud, and in so doing they did damage to the entire freeenterprise system.

But it is the politicians who are making the largest noise about the frailties of the free-enterprise system, and who are insisting the government should step in to assure us all that the financial reporting from America's businesses is absolutely perfect. Most of us know that the financial reporting from at least 95% of America's businesses is clean, and that the people who run those businesses are moral and honest. Even so, it is not inappropriate for the political types to look business practices over very carefully.

But while they are at it, in Georgia at least, it seems to me we might also bring up the fact that the books of the State of Georgia are not audited by an independent public accountant. The financial records of the State of Georgia are audited by an in-house audit department that is located down at the Capitol complex. And guess who that department answers to ... the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. In other words, this multi-billion dollar business we call the State of Georgia has a set of books kept by state employees who answer to governor Roy Barnes. And then another set of state employees work for the audit department which answers to Tom Murphy and Mark Taylor.

While we are tightening up accounting procedures to give us more confidence in the financial credibility of American business, it might be a good time to do the same thing with the state of Georgia.

This is Gordon Sawyer, and may the wind always be at your back.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/9/189811