I found this video of Jon Stewart interviewing Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks to be absolutely devastating. Hicks seems bemused that Stewart would find it to be wasteful if you were unable to say how you spent a massive amount of money you were entrusted with.
The concept of this responsibility seems foreign to Hicks. The idea that you would be expected to account for this money is alien to her.
This is one of the major problems with how our government operates today, with zero accountability. Writing up a report is seen as accountability, even if the report simply tells us we don't know where the money went. The belief of leaders such as Hicks that not being able to account for that money alone is not seen as wasteful is insane to someone like Stewart. Stewart's response is likely to be the same response by a horrified public whose money goes towards that waste.
Accountability is for other people. A low-level drug offender. Someone who can't afford strong legal counsel for a victimless crime. A bank failure puts billions of dollars of depositors’ money at risk when it's obvious to anyone with a basic knowledge of finance that interest rates would continue to rise over the next year and a half.
We have a seriously out-of-wack system of accountability.
Accountability