#budget accountability

[ivygorgon]

Please cut wasteful Pentagon spending now!

AN OPEN LETTER to THE PRESIDENT & U.S. CONGRESS

887 so far! Help us get to 1,000 signers!

I am a constituent who believes the failure to control wasteful Pentagon spending makes it harder to meet our country’s needs. The U.S. spends more on the military than any other country in the world, yet we repeatedly fail to spend the required amount of funds on food, housing, health care, and education that our communities need.

Recently, the DoD failed its audit for the sixth time in a row when it failed to account for $1.9 trillion―half its $3.8 trillion budget.

The Department of Defense is the only federal agency that has never passed a full audit and they didn’t even complete audits until 2018.

As your constituent, I am asking you to cut wasteful Defense spending in FY 2025 government funding bills.

Federal dollars that go to wasteful Department of Defense contracts are funds that do not go to meet human needs. One-third to one-half of the Pentagon budget goes to corporate military contractors that drastically price gouge the DoD by as much as 40%.

Trillions of dollars spent―and unaccounted for―undermine our security by preventing us from investing in the shared prosperity that comes from more housing, climate and public health protections, ending hunger, and more education.

Please cut wasteful Pentagon spending and invest that money in vulnerable communities.

▶ Created on April 22 by Jess Craven · 886 signers in the past 7 days

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#JESSCRAVEN101 #PESFXZ #resistbot #Wasteful Spending #Pentagon Budget #Military Spending #Budget Accountability #Audit The Pentagon #Government Waste #Defense Spending #Fiscal Responsibility #National Security #Budget Priorities #Military Industrial Complex #Taxpayer Money #Public Accountability #Financial Transparency #Pentagon Oversight #Corporate Contracts #Government Accountability #Cut Defense Spending #Budget Reform #Pentagon Audit #Social Investment #Human Needs #Community Investment #Economic Justice #Resource Allocation #Military Contractors #Defense Budget

[theabigailthorn]

Thanks to all my patrons for supporting me!

Turns out when you actually do your own research and writing [AHEM!] it takes time to make good content. These awesome names and plenty of generous people like them help make that happen. Their pledges give me the time to research the show PROPERLY and also go towards paying the crew, who make the show look spectacular.

If you can, and you wanna support what I do, sign up and join them :)

#philosophytube #philosophy chube #seriously though it makes me so mad that guy made so much money stealing other people's words #like I put so much flippin work into Philosophy Tube #and this a-hole just read out books and scammed his patrons #infuriating #but what are you gonna do jake? It's ContentTown #I hope my patrons see their money going on the screen #oh also in case you were wondering the patreon pledges go into a separate bank account that's for Philosophy Tube #they don't go into my personal accounts #and if there's anything left over at the end of an episode it rolls over into the budget for the next one

[cipher-fresh]

I do have to object to the novelization of the Giggle saying that the Doctor bought his own house in London with his UNIT salary. The Doctor would never be responsible enough to vacuum or buy groceries and stuff. The Doctor should be the Noble family’s unemployed housecat who wakes up at 12 noon every day and plays video games on the couch

#but also the implication that the Doctor has a like. UNIT-set up bank account that has gotten monthly checks since 1970 and remained #otherwise untouched is so funny #every so often someone is like. hey Kate I’m going over the budget and do we need to keep paying the Doctor? it’s not like he lives here #what would he do with money anyway #but Kate is like. no I’d never hear the end of it if the Doctor found out. and it’s just rude he is a UNIT employee #doctor who spoilers #doctor who

[ghostofasecretary]

quick poll, i'm curious and going insane

what would you estimate you spend each week on takeout + groceries? amounts in USD because i'm USAmerican

#amounts because $200-300 and $300-400 were the amounts people tossed around #and because small budgets seem more nuanced to me than large ones #feel free to comment infinitely nuanced answers tho #i'm not including under $25 because i don't know anyone currently on that budget #and i have no way of accounting for school meal plans/restaurant jobs/work cafeterias/consulting dinners or w/e here #this is about household groceries and personal takeout expenses #polls #reference #my polls #ghost speaks

[the-joy-of-knowledge]

Finance Girl Starter Pack

1. Books

You will read books but don’t be overwhelmed by them. Every finance book reiterates the same thing. Understand the difference between personal, corporate, public, and international finance. Hence there are certain I moody to vocabulary for each field. Once you become family with the basics, it will be easier to understand as you go on.

2. Finance media

Being on top of the financial news is a good way of knowing the finance. You’ll come across real life scenarios of some of your textbook definitions. Watch CNBC, Bloomberg. You can read Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Kiplinger. You can also check online sources like Investopedia, Nerdwallet, and some interesting ones that include news on fintech.

3. Productivity & tools

My favorite is Notion. I use it to track assignments and projects, Google Calendar is your friend. Know how to use Google Docs. Play with various tools to figure out which you like best.

4. Skills

Knowing how to use Excel and PowerPoint is a pathway to opportunities. Use YouTube first, then try other classes available on Udemy, Coursera, or eDx. Build up skills in modeling and business analysis. Communication and other soft skills should also be worked on.

5. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is very important to network in finance. Start with a professional headshot. You can connect with industry leaders and corporations you’d like to work for. Create a profile that includes your skills, showcase your financial modeling, dashboards, infographics. Be consistent and engaging.

6. Good business wear

A wardrobe of staple work clothes will go a long way for interviews and busy work days. Two to three blazers ( including tweed), a classic work bag, comfortable shoes, formal dress, and pants. The goal is to be business- professional, business-casual, or business-chic.

#preppy #luxury #oldmoney #self improvement #ivy league #self love #chanel #beauty #classy #finance #accounting #budget #wealth #rich life #career #amex card #business #million #new york #wall streeet journal #wall street #london #banking #goldman #jpmorgan #consulting

[charmwasjess]

Padme literally had more training to rule at age 14 than Dooku did running Serenno at age 60 and I genuinely believe the only reason he wasn’t immediately deposed was because Jenza was just so happy to have her only non-psychopath family member back (...an opinion that would age like milk) that she secretly fixed a lot of his early calamitous floundering behind his back.

#the planetary budget is stalled for weeks because the new Count locked himself out of his Quickbooks account #Dooku: (failing utterly) I did it :) #Jenza: haha yeah kind of :) #count dooku #serenno #star wars meta #jenza #padme amidala

[cyancherub]

financial independence changed my whole outlook on life i really mean that. i will work my ass off and i will do it for MYSELF and it feels so rewarding to know that i dont have to answer to anyone about my time or money but ME. it gives me the motivation to do the best i can so i can give myself the best life possible u know

#talky cherub #JUST THINKIN ABOUT THIS #sometimes im so grateful for that 7 yr relationship ending because it forced me to take care of myself #well i mean. i have to answer to my job ALKFDLA but u kno what i mean. personal relationships. tjats what im referring to. #the other day #my mom was like . lecturing me abt something about my car and i was like gurl u dont pay my insurance. u cant tell me a thing #and she likes to tell me how to spend my money #DONT buy this DONT buy that #HELLO I HAVE A WHOLE BUDGET and u dont have access to my accounts . mind your business! #sorry for oversharing again <3 #tmi cherub

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

WAIT SORRY, I just sent a ask a second ago BUT IM PRETTY SURE ITS MERCH, the fact that howdy was on there is probably meaning its to be sold in a store of some kind, like his shop. definitely a stretch tho

no no i'm with you on that. my first thought had been "physical howdy puppet?" but then i thought about it for more than one second and came to the Merch Conclusion as well for the same reasons. it might be a Wally plush! that's my guess!

#im gonna have to check my bank account and see what my Possible Budget is #what id be willing to spend... #what amount i can Part With.... #but yeah the way it seems 'marketed' in a way #clown saying that its a big moment for him #them setting a specific drop time.... a Curtain signifying an Unveiling.... #its almost certainly merch yeah! #we'll see we'll see! #whatever it is im excited and im gonna love it merch or otherwise #rambles from the bog #if its merch im glad clown is able to do this! he deserves the income! #and also id be absolutely fucking Delighted - beyond delighted! - to have wally In My House #we could hold staring contests! #i can put him with my crocheted Home that i havent made yet unless you view time nonlinearly in that case yes i have!

[alwaysbewoke]

x

#401(k) #savings #tax-advantaged retirement #bipartisan legislation #wealth gap #federal budget #financial industry #lobbying #retirement security #tax law #retirement savings #bipartisan #wealth disparities #federal deficit #financial services industry #tax-advantaged accounts #tax breaks #Congress #lobbyists #Social Security #Medicare

[kaiserin-erzsebet]

Girl help, the post I made venting a bit of frustration at fashion content on the internet with the assumption that few people would take notice on a gradblr/literature blog has almost a thousand notes and I can now think of so many ways I could have worded it more carefully to make my point.

#mostly I don't think I made my own position clear #as someone who really doesn't buy fast fashion #but who also has a limited budget on account of being a grad student #and the pressure to build a long lasting semi-professional looking wardrobe #again on account of being a grad student and a person in the latter half of my 20s more generally

[phoenixyfriend]

Ko-Fi prompt from KemiKitty:

id enjoy hearing about concerts and ticket money if you want

Referencing my “how does this make money/how does this lose money” in this post.

Whoo! I actually really enjoy talking about money flow like this. Digging into examples like this helps with understanding the interconnectedness of the economic systems we inhabit, and with why things cost What They Do.

Disclaimer: I have not worked in this industry. I just majored in business, watch a lot of documentaries/video essays, and like to break down business and economic topics. When I got to performances, I try to figure these things out as an observer (dinner theater from watching Lindsey Sterling before she got super famous, more Traditional concerts at Staller Performing Arts center, Broadway shows) and asking questions of tour guides when at places like the Vienna Opera House.

Our Example: A moderately popular performer, in an enclosed performance space with a stage, fixed seating, and food service.

Let us consider a performer of middling popularity. They go on tours, but only in the lower 48 states, not yet internationally. They do single nights at an independent venue, which has either dinner tables or rows of audience seating. Let's say... 350 seats, in a middle-sized city, with $30/ticket on average, with wiggle room depending on seating, VIP passes, and discounts (groupons, senior, military, annual passes, etc).

So, who is getting paid, and who is paying?

Money coming into the venue, tied directly to this one event:

Tickets The people who came to this concert are paying for the tickets. 350 seats, at an average of $30/ticket, that's about $10,500. Most of this money does not go to the venue, but may pass through it, or leave a cut with it. (Depends on the ticketing software; we're saying this is an independent venue, not part of the ticketmaster situation, so it's a maybe.)

Food and drink The venue sells snacks, possibly full meals, if it's a dinner-and-show location. It may sell alcohol. It almost definitely sells drinks, maybe has vending machines if nothing else. If attendees cannot bring their own food and drink, and don't want to leave the building so they don't miss the show, then the venue can mark up the food they sell.

Merchandise Dependent on the type of merch and the venue, this may be a flat fee, where the performer puts down a few hundred dollars up front to set up a table for after the concert, or it might be taking a small cut of whatever is sold that night. They might not charge anything, but we'll include it as a likely avenue of income. I can see some kinder venues waiving the fee for newer, up-and-coming artists, but generally you can assume that the venue will take a cut.

Money flowing out of the venue, tied directly to this one event:

The Performer and their team The ticket costs will go primarily to the performer, their backup dancers/singers/band, their manager, and whatever fund they have for things other than wages, like a tour bus rental fee, the label, the driver, the night's post-concert laundry costs, and so on. The chances of all that money going to a single performer is very low; you can generally assume they have backup, management, additional costs, and someone pulling the strings. There are exceptions, like unaffiliated stand-up comedians or other, genuinely solo acts, but for the type of event I'm outlining, these are all contributing factors. Performers may bring their own lighting/sound techs. The venue also might provide their own. For a larger venue, I'd assume both are involved; one who knows the concert's program, and one who knows the venue's setup.

Venue staff The ushers, lighting/sound technicians, the bar staff, the cook, the janitor, security, and anyone else who is working night-of is getting paid. We can equate their pay to the money coming in from specifically the food and drink sales, along with tips for the waitstaff in particular. By this, I mean that the correlation is such that, should sales fall, the corresponding cut in costs is employee labor (the bar staff and cooks), rather than the performers (whose costs are calculated in relation to the money they bring in relating to the ticket sales).

Food and Drink Raw ingredients for the food, wholesale costs for the liquor, napkins, single-use straws, and so on.

Printed Programs Someone has to print the little booklet that tells you who's performing tonight, who's performing for the next few months, and anything else you need to know. If it's a big-name cultural center, they may even include some interviews! But ink is expensive, and that's a lot of paper.

Money coming into the venue, not connected to the specific event:

Advertising Does the venue have posters around for local businesses? For insurance companies? For upcoming events? Someone is paying them for that. Does the venue intersperse the pre-show music over the speakers with the occasional ad spot? Someone is paying them for that. Does the venue have ads in the program booklet? Someone is paying them for that. For a really, really large venue, the kind with dozens or hundreds of employees and massive lighting/sound setups, they are liable to get most of their income from advertising.

Government Grants and Private Donations Depending on the venue, they may donations or grants. This is more likely to apply to a university/community performing arts center than a for-profit dinner theater, but it's a possibility.

Merchandise The venue may have merch that is unrelated to the performance of the night. A historic or novelty location is most likely to have success with this, selling beer glasses with their logo or a t-shirt with 'home of the [band from several decades ago]' printed across the front.

Money flowing out of the venue, not connected to the specific event:

Administrative/Overhead Employees Management, bookkeeping, legal, marketing, and so on.

Utilities Electricity, water, sewage, gas, telecomm, and so on.

Taxes, Licenses, Fees Sales tax, property tax, liquor license, etc.

Mortgage or lease The venue's business owner is not necessarily the one to own the property outright. They may pay rent to a property owner, or mortgage to the bank.

Maintenance - Building Codes Any large building is going to need plumbers, glass techs, electricians, roofers, and so on coming by with regularity. (This part, I actually do know; I used to do repairs dispatching, and you'd be amazed how frequently a big box store needs someone to come by about the toilets.)

Maintenance - Venue Codes There are certain things that an entertainment venue needs to do that other businesses... don't. Namely, fire safety. It's a huge deal. Staying up to code can be expensive, especially if you need to get your backstage/wing curtains chemically treated again, which can be anywhere from one to five years, or the next time someone spills water on it. (That's the main reason open containers of liquids aren't allowed backstage.)

Marketing Just like people pay the venue to advertise, the venue pays for others to advertise it. This could be in the local newspaper or online, but if a given performer isn't someone semi-famous on tour that has a following, then something else needs to draw in a regular paying crowd.

Miscellaneous Overhead There is a lot of overhead for any business of moderate size that has its costs spread out over the year. This includes hiring an accountant for tax season, purchasing uniforms for employees, replacing cutlery and plates and furniture as it wears out or gets lost, repainting the walls every few years, office supplies when the printer for the programs wears out, and so on.

Is this everything? Almost definitely not.

But, hopefully, I've untangled a few things that you may not have considered before.

Those tickets and drinks you bought cover a lot more than just the performer!

...unless it's through ticketmaster, in which case it's probably just the monopoly.

----

If you enjoyed this post, please support me on ko-fi! You can also prompt me for a business/econ topic of your choice here.

#business #budgeting #accounting #phoenix posts #ko fi #ko fi prompts #economics prompts #theater fires #are a big deal #this is what accountants do btw. they track all of this plus less concrete stuff like depreciating value or deferred costs

[noballoonsinspace]

Can’t stand when people go “its just not in the budget” when they’re the ones that wrote the damn budget in the first place. Just say it wasn’t a priority to you. Just say that. Take responsibility.

#like when you plan an event and you say disability accommodation just didn’t fit in the budget #just say you’re not prioritizing inclusivity and accessibility. just say you don’t care about disabled people. be real about it ffs #ableism #anti ableism #accountability #transparency #finance #accessibility #disability accommodations #disability advocacy

[phosphorus-noodles]

wough. okay. having thoughts.

what i need to do:

stuff for lab tomorrow

all the studying for a midterm

taking the midterm tomorrow morning

then i can go to a meeting after the midterm and before the lab. easy

what i want to do instead:

WRITE

draw character refs

redesign my sona aughjfg

finish show

sleep tbh

literally anything that isn't in section one

#can someone help me budget this my grades are dying /ref #pho.posts #might delete later just need to be held accountable for my actions

[unheavenlybody]

damn i rly gotta worry abt buying groceries every week for the rest of my life... only 23 and i've had enough. you buy stuff you eat it and then ur fucked all over again!!! noooo 🫠🫠🫠😖😖😖

#and it sucks cuz i try to be active so my bank account is crying #cuz obviously you have to eat more to have energy to work out.. but that simply means more grocery shopping and suffering #actually now that i think of it i never hear anyone talk abt how working out may be harder if ur on a tight budget bc u gotta eat more often #hmmmmghh... #didn't realize how hard it would be to maintain til i was living it

[hella1975]

so it turns out it was actually never that serious

#the exam literally went fine what the fuck just happened i feel like i just hallucinated that #like im not one of those people that go 'omg i did soooo badly :(' just to come out with top grades if i say it's going to shit #then it's becuase i genuinely wholeheartedly believe it #and my headspace before this exam was the worst it's been in MONTHS like i havent felt that bad for an exam since first year #and i sat down opened the paper and. remembered everything. like i literally just Knew the answers #im not saying ive passed bc am i fuck about to jinx it and i was still riding mainly blind bc i have NO idea where that knowledge came from #but at the very least there was a 35 marker that i KNOW i aced like i could picture the exact lecture slides it wanted me to discuss #and i had all of them memorised so at the very least ive got like. 30 marks. which is enough for me to pass the module #bc this exam is only weighted 75% and with my marks from the other 25% i only needed like 20 marks to pass this exam #which... makes it even more embarrassing that i failed it the first time but whatever!!!! #oh my god im so glad that's done im so happy IM FREE #just been in the kitchen dancing around to my little tunes and texting my friends <3 #im meeting up with one of them when she gets off work at 5 and we're going for drinks #so ive got until then to nap and chill and then ill go to the shop and get us some food and wine #and she's gonna come here for a bit & then we'll go. like actually look at me. im having people over at MY HOUSE im going out to buy us WIN #im literally a functioning adult living independently who IS she a misty memory #alas i do only have £23 in my account so this is gonna be such a slay seeing how i make that stretch for a night out #i acc could budget for england when it comes to alcohol i think like the way i manage to have a good funky time with MINIMAL funds #is downright impressive. it's a skill idc what you say #hella goes to uni

[vintage-tech]

Food expenses budgeted in 1942.

#vintage #1942 #budget #technology #accounting