The United States has elected officials, represented in both houses of Congress and the Executive Office, who are in charge of submitting and approving an annual budget. The Executive Office has undue influence upon that federal budget because the initial proposed budget comes from the President; after which the Senate and Congress use this template to create their own budget resolution, with the sure knowledge that ultimately it is the President that has the power to sign or to veto it. So then, whether the people want to consider that the President and Congress jointly create the budget, or consider that the President has a powerful influence upon the budget, isn’t so important, as the fact that the budget, and then the expenditures so spent by the federal Government is a staggering amount of money. We read at Fiscaldata.treasury.gov that in the fiscal year 2023, “.. the government spent $6.13 trillion.” This $6.13 trillion spent is a sum so high, it’s hard to fathom it, and further to the point, signifies that those in Congress, as well as the President, are in the catbird seat as to how significant portions of that budget are thus allocated.
It has to be recognized that as large as these mega-corporations are within the United States, the highest-grossing corporation, currently is Walmart, which has annual revenue of just over $600 billion, which is an exceedingly large sum, but is dwarfed by the Federal government’s budget. This indicates that there are plenty of corporations, large, small, and in between that wish to feed at the Federal government trough, which is one of the seminal reasons why there are so many lobbyists and things of that sort in Washington DC, because the Federal government has plenty of money to dish out, and the Federal government has historically always paid for that which it purchases on time.
Indeed, anytime that we are dealing with a massively large amount of money to be spent, there are going to be those that are gifted at siphoning off some of those millions upon millions to not only their own personal benefit, but also to those things which quite frankly are a waste of the taxpayer’s money, but often hidden from view, except from a very careful and detailed audit. So too, those that have the power of the purse, have power over corporations and other people, thereby signifying that those who want the money are just about willing to do anything, within reason, to obtain those funds, because for a significant amount of corporations, the Federal government monies are absolutely mandatory for the profitability and sustainability of the company. Further to the point, those who are overly dependent upon the Federal government will do what they feel that they have to do, to keep getting their needs fulfilled, through hook or by crook.
In short, with all the money that the Federal government has to spend on behalf of its citizens, it has to acknowledge that not only corruption and inefficiencies of all types will occur, but that in consideration of that, comprehensive auditing is important, not only to know where the money is going but whether that money has been properly spent on what it was supposed to provide for the people.