When the Alliance for Nonprofit Management conference ended last Friday in Palm Springs, I had gained at least one important and encouraging piece of information: despite the economy, people are still working on important things.

A group of capacity builders recently finished a book on culturally competent capacity building, others presented new ideas on training and developing consultants. The list of initiatives, while not so long as in past years, was at least, well, still a list. I was also encouraged to remember that we are all still here, alive, and working, from the level of fellowship among participants.

Old friends and new huddled in groups of two, three, or ten, sharing experiences, offering support, and just being there. It was a good reminder for us all in these trying times. Times that in California at least, just got more trying with the budget deal.

I was amazed today to hear the US Treasury Department’s response to the TARP Inspector General’s report. The IG, charged with reviewing how hundreds of billions in TARP assistance have been used by banks said basically that he has no idea.

There are no reports, no accountability whatsoever. He is outraged, as we all should be. Treasury’s response was to offer that the banks have lots of funds and the US taxpayer money just kind of all gets mixed in; there is no way to determine what activities are associated with which dollars.

This response is quite amazing. Government at all levels expects an often-ridiculous level of record-keeping from nonprofits. Fund accounting standards provide a means, and government auditors are the enforcers, but for banks, well it would be just too hard to sort out their finances.