August 8, 2003, 1200 PDT, (FTW) -- Wholesale Enron-style looting of US taxpayer money on a scale that threatens the stability and safety of every American has prompted an historic alliance between activism, technology, and financial expertise. A new interactive web site,

now makes real, on a local level selected by each user, the enormous amounts of money that have been stolen from the US Treasury. It also makes clear that most of our current problems---from energy shortages, to federal, state and local budget deficits, to needed infrastructure changes---could be addressed if the US government and private corporations like Lockheed-Martin and C S C-DynCorp were held accountable for their mishandling of taxpayer money.

The web site is a collaborative project between three disciplines as represented by its creators:

. Former Assistant Housing Secretary and past Managing Director of Dillon Read Catherine Austin Fitts, ( http://www.solari.com);

. Henri Poole, President of Affero, Inc. ( http://www.affero.com/) and board member of The Free Software Foundation ( http://www.fsf.org/) .

. Brad De Graff of The Venture Collective ( http://www.venturecollective.com/).

The importance of the issue, and why it must be injected into every political debate from now on, is dramatically emphasized by the political circus unfolding in California which has been sparked by massive budget deficits, not all of which are attributable to political mismanagement. If such a belief were true, then California would be the only state facing such crises. Instead, we see a nation sinking under red ink while trillions of our dollars are missing.

Candidates in the California recall race (and every American political contest) must be held accountable for this unconscionable theft of taxpayer money. This new web site makes it possible for every American to relate cooked government books and stolen money to the quality of life in their home state and to translate that loss into what it means in terms of education, health care and energy issues. The site also includes an interactive electronic petition where the American people can put their feet down and demand accountability, which is both their right and obligation under the Constitution.

It is not a case where the people "can" make the politicians listen. It is a case where the people "must" make the politicians change.

The "whereisthemoney" web site makes a point of the cost of conversion of oil- powered vehicles to natural gas. FTW must emphasize that irreversible natural gas shortages in North America and worldwide make such a move both impossible and inadvisable. But, as a teaching point, the figures are astounding. This example highlights the money that might be available to develop biodiesel fuels or to facilitate the essential infrastructure changes required to develop, for example, hybrid and solar technologies that will soften the growing impact and reality of Peak Oil and Gas. These challenges are only going to get worse.

What is so amazing about this web site is that its head-spinning, rolling dollar counters, adjustable for all 50 states, focus on only about $1.5 trillion of missing taxpayer money and do not include an additional $2.3 trillion in money admittedly "missing" from the Pentagon for FY 1999.

Asked why the site did not include the additional $2.3 trillion in DoD funds, Fitts replied, "We wanted to use a number from an administration cross-over year where it was absolutely clear that this was a bi-partisan issue rather than something that could be dismissed or buried as the fault of only one party rather than a system. The figures, as presented, are amazing enough and they present a challenge to lawmakers at every level that cannot be dodged by pointing the finger at someone else."

Be prepared for an eye-opening experience when you visit:

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