Post by Hoosier Hillbilly on Oct 14, 2011 16:03:03 GMT -5
Fraud and Abuse in Federal Programs
Introduction
The federal government is a vast money transfer machine. It spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars each year on subsidy programs—from the massive Medicare to hundreds of more obscure programs that most people have never heard of. There are more than 1,800 federal subsidy programs.
With such a huge array of handouts, the federal budget has become victim to large-scale fraud and abuse—that is, people taking government benefits to which they are not entitled. Just about every subsidy program suffers from fraud and abuse, and we illustrate the problems here with discussions of Medicare, Medicaid, housing programs, student aid, and farm subsidies. Losses to federal taxpayers from fraud, abuse, and other types of improper payments are in the ballpark of $100 billion a year or more.
There have been efforts to reduce improper payments, but the abuse of federal programs continues at high levels. We think that federal subsidy programs should be cut because they harm the economy and are unfair to taxpayers. But endemic fraud and abuse provides an additional reason to pursue cuts and terminations to many federal programs.
www.downsizinggovernment.org/fraud-and-abuse
Just to mention one of 1800 or so;
Farm Subsidies
The U.S. Department of Agriculture distributes more than $15 billion in cash subsidies to farmers and owners of farmland each year. More than 800,000 farmers and landowners receive subsidies each year, but the payments are heavily tilted toward the largest producers. Indeed, the largest 10 percent of recipients typically receive about 72 percent of all subsidy payments. In 2007, the average income of farm households was $86,223, or 28 percent higher than the average of all U.S. households.
Look @ this website and see the waste of the Federal Government- NOT THEIR MONEY BUT "OURS!"
Then ask yourself why "WE" should bail them out!
Introduction
The federal government is a vast money transfer machine. It spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars each year on subsidy programs—from the massive Medicare to hundreds of more obscure programs that most people have never heard of. There are more than 1,800 federal subsidy programs.
With such a huge array of handouts, the federal budget has become victim to large-scale fraud and abuse—that is, people taking government benefits to which they are not entitled. Just about every subsidy program suffers from fraud and abuse, and we illustrate the problems here with discussions of Medicare, Medicaid, housing programs, student aid, and farm subsidies. Losses to federal taxpayers from fraud, abuse, and other types of improper payments are in the ballpark of $100 billion a year or more.
There have been efforts to reduce improper payments, but the abuse of federal programs continues at high levels. We think that federal subsidy programs should be cut because they harm the economy and are unfair to taxpayers. But endemic fraud and abuse provides an additional reason to pursue cuts and terminations to many federal programs.
www.downsizinggovernment.org/fraud-and-abuse
Just to mention one of 1800 or so;
Farm Subsidies
The U.S. Department of Agriculture distributes more than $15 billion in cash subsidies to farmers and owners of farmland each year. More than 800,000 farmers and landowners receive subsidies each year, but the payments are heavily tilted toward the largest producers. Indeed, the largest 10 percent of recipients typically receive about 72 percent of all subsidy payments. In 2007, the average income of farm households was $86,223, or 28 percent higher than the average of all U.S. households.
Look @ this website and see the waste of the Federal Government- NOT THEIR MONEY BUT "OURS!"
Then ask yourself why "WE" should bail them out!
