Press & News

Gerald Skoning Published in Crain's Chicago Business
11/01/2006

In an opinion piece (“How about a type of Sarbanes-Oxley for Uncle Sam?”) published in the October 23 issue of Crain's Chicago Business, Gerald Skoning proposes that the federal deficit should be treated by Congress as a national scandal and that proper accounting procedures should be ensured on a national level. He notes:

“Sarbanes-Oxley, passed in 2002 in response to the wave of corporate corruption scandal, mandates tightened auditing procedures for all public companies, verified financial reports and a company's CEO and chief financial officer vouching for the accuracy of financial reports. It's meant to restore investor confidence that was badly shaken. And although Corporate America has grumbled about the mandated reporting and auditing requirements and attendant compliance costs averaging $4.4 million per company with revenues of $5 billion or more, Sarbanes-Oxley has worked well. Taxpayer confidence in government reports was also shaken by bogus numbers and erroneously assumptions. A Sarbanes-style law covering the federal government might sweep the smoke-and-mirrors and voodoo out of government accounting. If the president and secretary of the treasury were required to certify government financial reports under threat of criminal prosecution, we would probably witness the government equivalent of a corporate ``restatement of earnings'' quite frequently…It's time for Congress to lead by example in the financial accounting arena. A government version of Sarbanes-Oxley should be enacted to ensure truth in government accounting and help restore the faith of taxpayer-investors in federal budget realities.”