I asked Grok the following question:
If the government was a business, would the SEC delist it from the stock exchange?
Here is the conclusion:
If the U.S. government were a publicly traded business, the SEC would likely delist it from a stock exchange due to its persistent failure to produce auditable financial statements, material weaknesses in internal controls, and significant estimated fraud losses ($233–$521 billion annually). The DoD’s seven failed audits and the Treasury’s disclaimer of opinion would be primary drivers, violating SEC rules on financial reporting and governance. While the government’s economic importance and the Federal Reserve’s cleaner audits might delay action, the scale of financial mismanagement would make delisting inevitable without major reforms. Public distrust, as seen on X, and the government’s opaque practices further align with the profile of a company facing regulatory action.
I am even more convinced now than before about the unwise, but widespread “grant” method of federal spending.
I realize that no agency can predict accurately what its expenditures will be, but believe the grants are way too loose and excessive.
Like loan committees at a bank, agencies should have panels to review and approve grants so a paper trail exists that auditors can follow to monitor.
Audits at least annually, but also no-notice audits, should be regularized in every agency. I like the idea of DOGE as the equivalent of Army IG inspectors, aiding leadership keep a level of responsibility via sanctions at every level in agencies.
DOGE folks should have a designated set of criminal investigators and prosecutors who retain skills on tracking white collar money wasters. Derelection of duty in handling funds must become a federal crime, one that results in loss of all retirement benefits and employment upon conviction.
Will my proposals, if enacted, slow down federal processes ? Certainly. That is the idea. Spend less and only on very needed projects.
Congress can always over-ride; however, my ideas to make grants harder to receive will force Congress to perform their duties instead of sluffing it off to irresponsible agencies.
MFARA = Make Federal Agencies Responsible Again !! (Sheeze, too long to fit on a hat…..)
Sometimes knowing the right question to ask is the greater intelligence.
and sometimes stomping a hole in a politcians ass will get their attention.
The problem with the question posed is that the SEC is part of the government, and would cover the government’s ass -and thereby it’s own -- by cooking the numbers and declining to delist it, if it were a hypothetical publicly traded company. Just another case of it being impossible to reform the system by using the system, because the system is fundamentally corrupt and seeks always and everywhere to perpetuate it’s own existence.