Department of the Treasury

The Treasury Department is the executive agency responsible for promoting economic prosperity and ensuring the financial security of the United States. The Department is responsible for a wide range of activities such as advising the President on economic and financial issues, encouraging sustainable economic growth, and fostering improved governance in financial institutions. The Department of the Treasury operates and maintains systems that are critical to the nation's financial infrastructure, such as the production of coin and currency, the disbursement of payments to the American public, revenue collection, and the borrowing of funds necessary to run the federal government. The Department works with other federal agencies, foreign governments, and international financial institutions to encourage global economic growth, raise standards of living, and to the extent possible, predict and prevent economic and financial crises. The Treasury Department also performs a critical and far-reaching role in enhancing national security by implementing economic sanctions against foreign threats to the U.S., identifying and targeting the financial support networks of national security threats, and improving the safeguards of our financial systems.

The Department is mandated by Article II, Section 8 of the Constitution. However, the highlighted areas in the above paragraph are NOT part of its Constitutional mission.

The Secretary of the Treasury is Timothy F. Geithner. The man in charge of our financial security didn’t pay Social Security or Medicare taxes while employed by the International Monetary Fund and he briefly employed a housekeeper who was immigration papers had expired. Now, I’ll give the man the benefit of the doubt, but the question still remains, is someone who is this irresponsible about his personal finances someone we want to be responsible for our Nation’s finances?

Bureaus and Offices of the Department of the Treasury:
1. Alcohol, Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
a. Responsible for enforcing and administering laws covering the production, use, and distribution of alcohol and tobacco products. TTB also collects excise taxes for firearms and ammunition.
2. Bureau of Engraving and Printing
a. Designs and manufactures U.S. currency, securities, and other official certificates and awards.
3. Bureau of the Public Debt
a. Borrows the money needed to operate the Federal Government. It administers the public debt by issuing and servicing U.S. Treasury marketable, savings and special securities.
b. As of 8 May 09 the Public Debt was $11,258,693,795,457.10 (That’s 11 TRILLION)
c. As of 8 May 09, the Public Debt has increased by $631,816,747,544.02 (That’s BILLION) under the Obama Administration – or $5,904,829,415.90 (That’s BILLION) per day since Mr. Obama took office.
4. Community Development Financial Institution Fund
a. Created to expand the availability of credit, investment capital, and financial services in distressed urban and rural communities.
b. I don’t believe the Constitution mentions doing this.
c. I believe that was the banks and mortgage companies were doing to cause the current financial crisis.
5. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
a. Supports law enforcement investigative efforts and fosters interagency and global cooperation against domestic and international financial crimes. It also provides U.S. policy makers with strategic analyses of domestic and worldwide trends and patterns.
b. That sure sounds like something that the FBI and CIA should be doing.
6. Financial Management Service
a. Receives and disburses all public monies, maintains government accounts, and prepares daily and monthly reports on the status of government finances.
7. Inspector General
a. Conducts independent audits, investigations and reviews to help the Treasury Department accomplish its mission; improve its programs and operations; promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness; and prevent and detect fraud and abuse.
b. As with the State Department, I believe this function should be relegated to GAO, but GAO has to be given some kind of punitive authority.
8. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
a. Provides leadership and coordination and recommends policy for activities designed to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the administration of the internal revenue laws. TIGTA also recommends policies to prevent and detect fraud and abuse in the programs and operations of the IRS and related entities.
b. Some of this mission appears to be a duplication of effort the Inspector General.
c. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) was established under the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 to provide independent oversight of IRS activities. TIGTA promotes the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the administration of the internal revenue laws. It is also committed to the prevention and detection of fraud, waste, and abuse within the IRS and related entities.
d. How does an internal organization that reports to the Secretary “provide independent oversight”?
9. Internal Revenue Service
a. The largest of Treasury's bureaus. It is responsible for determining, assessing, and collecting internal revenue in the United States.
b. Although IRS is a necessary evil, it has way to much latitude, not all of this “latitude” seems to be covered in Title 26 US Code (The Internal Revenue Code), but may, perhaps, be covered in the appropriate Title of the Code of Federal Regulations. In any event, this agency needs to be reigned in, the IRC needs to be rewritten, and a flat tax law needs to be instituted.
10. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
a. Charters, regulates, and supervises national banks to ensure a safe, sound, and competitive banking system that supports the citizens, communities, and economy of the United States.
11. Office of Thrift Supervision
a. the primary regulator of all federal and many state-chartered thrift institutions, which include savings banks and savings and loan associations.
12. U.S. Mint
a. Designs and manufactures domestic, bullion and foreign coins as well as commemorative medals and other numismatic items. The Mint also distributes U.S. coins to the Federal Reserve banks as well as maintains physical custody and protection of our nation's silver and gold assets.
13. Office of Domestic Finance
a. Advises and assists in areas of domestic finance, banking, and other related economic matters. It develops policies and guidance for Treasury Department activities in the areas of financial institutions, federal debt finance, financial regulation, and capital markets.
b. At first glance, the ODF seems to duplicate some of the efforts and functions of other agencies within the department.
14. Office of Economic Policy
a. Reports on current and prospective economic developments and assists in the determination of appropriate economic policies. The office is responsible for the review and analysis of both domestic and international economic issues and developments in the financial markets.
b. Seems that I recall the State Department does this, too.
c. The Office participates, along with the Council of Economic Advisers and the Office of Management and Budget, in the preparation of the Administration's budget. Economic Policy supports the Secretary of the Treasury in his roles as Chairman and Managing Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees.
d. Wait!! Isn’t this the guy that DIDN’T pay his Social Security and Medicare Taxes??
15. Office of the General Counsel
a. Provides legal and policy advice to the Secretary and other senior Departmental officials. The General Counsel also is the head of the Treasury Legal Division, a separate bureau within the Department that includes all legal counsels of the Treasury Department and their staff. The General Counsel also is the head of the Treasury Legal Division, a separate bureau within the Department that is composed of the approximately 2,000 attorneys and 1,500 support staff who are located in Treasury Departmental Offices and in Treasury bureaus.
b. Good Lord, with all of these lawyers in Treasury, and no telling how many within the other departments, who’s left to run for Congress?
16. Office of International Affairs
a. Advises and assists in the formulation and execution of U.S. international economic and financial policy, including the development of policies with respect to international financial, economic, monetary, trade, investment, bilateral aid, environment, debt, development, and energy programs, including U.S. participation in international financial institutions.
b. This agency had requested an FY 09 budget of $2.2 Billion.
17. Management/Chief Financial Officer
a. Responsible for the internal management and policy of the Department in the areas of budget, planning, human resources, information and technology management, financial management and accounting, procurement, and administrative services to Departmental (Headquarters) Offices.
18. Office of Public Affairs
a. Develops and implements communications strategy for the Department and advises officials within the Department and its bureaus how best to communicate issues and priorities of public interest.
b. At least they admit they’re responsible for spinning the news so the Department, the Secretary, and the President all look good.
19. Office of Tax Policy
a. Develops and implements tax policies and programs; reviews regulations and rulings to administer the Internal Revenue Code, negotiates tax treaties, provides economic and legal policy analysis for domestic and international tax policy decisions. It also provides estimates for the President's budget, fiscal policy decisions, and cash management decisions.
b. Shouldn’t reviewing regulations and rulings come under the General Counsel? Isn’t “negotiating … treaties” the State Department’s job?
20. Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
a. Develops and implements U.S. government strategies to combat terrorist financing domestically and internationally, develops and implements the National Money Laundering Strategy as well as other policies and programs to fight financial crimes.
b. Again, this appears to be the job of the FBI and the CIA.
21. Office of the Treasurer of the United States
a. Advises the Secretary on matters relating to coinage, currency and the production of other instruments by the United States. The Treasurer also serves as one of the Treasury Department's principal advisors and spokespersons in the area of financial literacy and education.
b. And he signs the paper money, too!

The long and the short of it, and you’ll hear this again, is that “big government” is primarily a waste of tax money, duplication of effort, and simply wrong! I know, I know. The country has grown in the past 200 years and the government has to grow with it. But, I don’t believe that our government has grown efficiently, effectively, or properly. The Treasury Department is an example of that.

God protect us from big government.
Gunner Sends