Democracy works best with an informed citizenry, and the American people have been “in the dark” about Congress’ ways for far too long.

Truth In Government operates according to the principle that effective action is grounded in knowledge, and the ability to apply that knowledge appropriately. In today’s environment of information overload, knowledge acquisition is an ever-mounting challenge.  Many of the millions of people concerned about federal spending, the national debt, and the economy have only recently sought to gain more in-depth knowledge about the federal government’s policies and procedures, as the fiscal crisis touched their own lives.

TruthInGovernment.org is designed to help visitors understand the basics of how our federal budget works and how money is spent and accounted for.   Let us help you navigate through government web sites and build your knowledge base.  You can reach your own conclusions and develop your own action plans, and not rely solely on the opinions of those who may have a different agenda.

U.S. Government Websites- free but not always easy to understand

The following official sites are important links for information you will need:

1. United States Department of The Treasury http://www.ustreas.gov/ Manages government revenue and is headed by Secretary of The Treasury, a position in the President’s cabinet. Also prints money, collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, and manages U.S. government debt instruments.
2. Congressional Budget Office: http://www.cbo.gov/ Official mandate is “to provide objective, nonpartisan, and timely analyses to aid in economic and budgetary decisions on the wide array of programs covered by the federal budget; also provides the information and estimates required for the Congressional budget process.”
3. Open Congress: Tracks bills, votes, senators and representatives.
   http://www.opencongress.org/
4. Recovery.gov: Official government site that tracks data related to Recovery Act spending and logs reports of waste or fraud.
   http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx
5. Office of Management and Budget (OMB): http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ Largest office in the Executive Office of the President of the United States; oversees activities of the federal agencies.
6. Financial Management Service: A Bureau of the United States Department of The Treasury: Gives a monthly statement of the treasury in PDF and Excel formats. http://www.fms.treas.gov/mts/index.html
7. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities http://www.cbpp.org/ “conducts research and analysis to help shape public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that policymakers consider the needs of low-income families and individuals in these debates.”
8. United States Government Printing Office (GPO) http://www.gpo.gov/ The office prints documents produced by and for the federal government.
9. United States Dept. of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/ responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics.
10. The U.S. Census Bureau has a page titled “Economic Indicators” that allows you to view everything from housing stats, to international trade statistics here: http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/briefroom/BriefRm