August 1, 2011

WASTE, FRAUD, ABUSE AND DUPLICATION: What Can be cut?

written by R. J. Rush
Thursday July 29, 2011

Everybody in Washington talks about waste, fraud and abuse but no one ever does anything about it. And, why does it always have to take 10 years to cut the deficit and debt and reduce government spending? As I pointed out in my recent tweet, Obama, Reid and Pelosi increased the federal debt by $3 trillion in less than 2 years but they are agonizing how to cut $2.5 trillion over 10 years. What am I missing? The Obama Debt Commission came up with a bi-partisan plan to cut the federal debt by $4 trillion, while at the same time reforming entitlement programs. The Senate’s Gang of 6 came up with similar proposals. The House passed its Cap, Cut and Balance legislation and the Ryan budget and in every instance President Obama gave it the middle finger salute. There is one more recommendation to get the government’s fiscal house in order but it is receiving very little coverage.

Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) has prepared and offered a solution titled “Back In Black – 9,000,000,000,000 Ways to Balance the Budget.” Senator Coburn and his staff have painstakingly identified “thousands of detailed budget options within every federal department and nearly every major program that, if taken together, would result in savings of more than $9 trillion over the next decade.” As pointed out by Senator Coburn, most of these saving would fall into the category of waste, fraud, abuse and duplication. Let me go over some of the more egregious examples of government waste and inefficiency that were taken from the Coburn report:

1. Eliminate Duplication:

Savings: At least $50 billion over ten years

In March, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report examining just 34 missions of the federal government and identified hundreds of duplicative and overlapping programs costing more than $215 billion a year. These included 47 separate job training programs, 88 economic development programs, 82 teacher quality programs, and 56 financial literacy programs, just to name a few.

2. Eliminate Waste in the Social Security Disability Insurance Program (SSDI):

Savings: At least $40 billion over ten years

Disability is defined as “the inability to engage in substantial gainful activity (“SGA”) due to a medically determinable physical or mental impairment.” In 2009, taxpayers lost $4 billion in overpayments to SSDI recipients. In 2010, 10.2 million people were receiving disability payments and it is estimated that 40% should not be receiving any benefits at all; many of whom are receiving SSDI payments while working for the federal government.

3. Stop Payments to Dead People:

Savings: Over $1 billion over ten years.

Washington sent over $1 billion to more than 250,000 deceased individuals over the past decade.

4. Get Rid of Unneeded Federal Properties:

Savings: $15 billion over ten years

The federal government has over 63,000 buildings that are underutilized and not utilized at all. This number has increased by more than 12,000 from only two years ago. It costs over $1.2 billion every year to operate these properties.

5. Reduce Federal Vehicle Fleet:

Savings: $5.6 billion over ten years

Federal agencies own or lease over 662,000 cars, vans, sport-utility vehicles, trucks, buses and other vehicles. Since 2006, the federal vehicle fleet has grown by five percent and the cost of maintaining and servicing those vehicles has grown over 25 percent, to $4.6 billion.

6. Suspend the Automatic Pay Raise for Members of Congress:

Savings: $6 million over three years

Members of Congress typically receive an automatic pay raise every year. Congress voted to freeze the salary of its member for the past two years at $174,000. The pay for members of Congress should be frozen for at least three more years.

7. Reduce Congress’ Spending on Itself:

Savings: $3.82 billion over ten years

Since 2001, Congress has boosted its own budget by 55 percent. At the same time, the average American wage increased by only 23 percent. In real dollars, the budget of the House and Senate has grown by more than $1 billion over the last decade. Congress must lead by example and do more with less. Congress’ spending on itself should be reduced by at least 15 percent.

8. Use Better Measure of Inflation to Determine Increases in Benefit Payments:

Savings: Approximately $180 billion over ten years

Many government benefits are automatically increased for inflation every year, based on the consumer price index (CPI). For more than 15 years, many budget experts have agreed the current CPI mechanism outpaces actual inflationary growth, causing the cost of government programs to rise rapidly.

9. Reduce Junkets and Unnecessary Travel:

Savings: $43.3 billion over ten years

The federal government spends $15 billion on travel every year. All travel that is not mission-critical should be ended.

10. Reduce Unnecessary Government Printing:

Savings: $4.9 billion over ten years

Federal agencies – excluding the Department of Defense – spend nearly $1.3 billion a year on routine office printing. A third of this printing is unnecessary, according to an independent analysis. Agencies should put an end to this wasteful habit and administrative accounts of each department should be reduced accordingly.

11. Reduce Advertising by the Federal Government:

Savings: $5.6 billion over ten years

The federal government spent almost $1 billion on advertising last year. While some advertising may be needed, much of it is wasteful and unnecessary and this amount should be cut in half.

12. Collect Unpaid Taxes Owed by Federal Employees:

Savings: $1 billion over ten years

Nearly 100,000 civilian federal employees were delinquent on their federal income taxes in 2008. These federal employees owe a total of $962 million in unpaid federal income taxes. The IRS should collect these overdue taxes.

This is just a smattering of federal spending that can be cut or eliminated. For a full list, please refer to the websites below. Senator Coburn has identified $9 trillion worth of waste, fraud, abuse and duplication within the federal government and we hear very little about this report. What is even more absurd is the fact that President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and all of the other reluctant Democrats in Congress are writhing and agonizing over $2.5 trillion in cuts over 10 years?

Is it any wonder why the words “cap, cut and balance” sends shivers through the progressive framework? Is it any wonder this country is spiraling into the abyss? Is there any doubt that the stalwart, career Washington politicians need to be permanently retired and replaced with individuals who believe in a balanced budget amendment, term limits and the elimination of the current tax code based on income, also known as success?

To read Senator Tom Coburn's Full Report click HERE.

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