OMB Watch has joined more than 30 other groups from across the political spectrum in a new coalition demanding stronger transparency requirements in any stimulus efforts conducted by the government. The Coalition for an Accountable Recovery was formed to promote accountability policies for both government agencies and companies that contract with or benefit from recovery spending.

chutz·pa
—noun Slang.
1. unmitigated effrontery or impudence; gall.
2. audacity; nerve.

"Report Finds Major U.S. Companies Have Offshore Tax Havens":

A majority of America's largest publicly traded companies and the U.S. government's largest federal contractors -- including some receiving millions in federal bailout money -- use multiple subsidiaries in offshore tax havens to conduct business and avoid paying U.S. taxes, a new report finds.

The new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, released today by Sens. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), lists Citigroup and Morgan Stanley as having set up hundreds of tax haven subsidiaries, along with American International Group and Bank of America. Also in the tax-haven list are well-known companies and such federal contractors as American Express, Pepsi and Caterpillar.

GAO, searching publicly available data filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, determined that 83 of the 100 largest publicly traded corporations and 63 of the 100 largest federal contractors maintain subsidiaries in countries generally considered havens for avoiding taxes. Dorgan and Levin said they requested the updated report from one several years ago because they are focused on combating offshore tax abuses, which they estimated cause $100 billion in lost U.S. tax revenue each year.

So, the federal government loans or gives away gobs of money to corporations with which they employ to turn a profit and then promptly avoid paying taxes by hoarding their gains offshore. Absolutely shameless.

Image by Flickr user EricGjerde used under a Creative Commons license.

In his confirmation hearing in front the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week, then-OMB Director nominee Peter Orszag (confirmed on Tuesday) made some encouraging remarks about curtailing the use of contractors to perform governmental work.

Today, President-elect Obama asked Congress to release the remaining $350 billion in TARP funds.