I'll not use it again, but it is an inspirational phrase.
OK, on to the first post:
Well, this is pretty pitiful.
From Fiscal Times:
Government Wastes More Money than You Think
If we saved only half of the $788 billion we waste, we could dump the sequester, fix our infrastructure, bolster education, and grow the economy.
July 24, 2013
Read more at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/07/24/The-Government-Is-Wasting-More-Money-than-You-Think.aspx#PIX7oQKOUEtgofVw.99
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$788 Billion per year in Waste.
From the Editor of the Fiscal Times.
2013 Budget ($billions): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_United_States_fe deral_budget
890 Social Security
940 Medicare/Medicaid
981 Defense, Security & State (incl VA)
246 Net Interest
$3.057 billion
Total spending: $3.8 billion.
So there is more waste in the rest of government than the rest of government spends?
Or is the waste in Medicare?
Social Security?
Defense?
Veteran's Administration?
Where IS that $788 billion in waste?
Let's check the Fiscal Time's math:
Here's her $788 billion of "waste":
1) $300 Billion Annual Tax Gap (~ $500 billion) $3 collected for every $1 in additional enforcement
Read more at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/07/24/The-Government-Is-Wasting-More-Money-than-You-Think.aspx#PIX7oQKOUEtgofVw.99
500 billion in "tax avoidance" that the IRS does not catch, less approximate cost of increasing IRS enforcement = $300 billion.
Yes, that is right, she says we should increase IRS enforcement efforts by roughly 1/3 of $500 billion, or $167 billion (The entire treasury department budget is only $110 billion, according to the wiki link above) in order to collect another $500 billion in taxes.
She calls the difference "waste".
That's 300 out of 788.
2) $168 billion for Afghanistan and Iraq.
I may or may not agree that that money has been flushed down a rat hole every year.
But I have never heard anybody describe it as "Government Waste" before.
OK, we are up to $468 billion:
$300 billion "not collected enough tax"
$168 billion
That leaves $320 billion.
Wonder where that is.
I'm having fun, so let's go look:
3) $115 billion in Medicare Fraud.
Where does this number come from?
It appears to be a random number that would include much more than Medicare, taken from this article: http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/07/01/12909/he alth-fraud-outrunning-federal-enforcement-efforts
Nowhere in the article does it cite that number as a Medicare fraud number. Here is the paragraph from which she apparently picked $115 billion:
The office also identified about $19.8 billion in waste and launched more than 1,000 criminal and civil investigations of individuals or health care businesses accused of cheating Medicare or Medicaid.
Estimates of annual losses to fraud and waste in the health care industry run into the tens of billions of dollars annually. Federal agencies reported an estimated $115.3 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2011, and more than half that figure was attributed to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Notable:
i) the article points out that due to the sequester, medicare inspectors are being laid off.
ii) Obamacare specifically targeted Medicare fraud and waste. Just sayin.
OK:
$ 300 billion "uncollected tax"
$ 168 billion
$ 115 billion "random number from an article about Medicare waste."
That's $583 billion, leaving $205 billion.
4a) $95 billion "GAO overlapping programs"
4b) $67 billion "Inspector general - across programs"
OK, that's $162 billion of waste self-identified by two government entities.
Did the author ever consider that there might be overlapping estimates from the GAO and the IG, and that those estimates likely also include some numbers related to Medicare?
Why in the world would you add both of those numbers together, even if they were accurate?
If anyone is still paying attention, this is the same type of "across all of government" number that the author grabbed the $115 billion for Medicare from.
But let's take a look at the $95 billion of "waste" identified by the GAO, which, by the way, never called it "waste": http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-318SP#mt=e-repo rt&st=2
Here's an example: Addressing duplicative federal efforts directed at increasing domestic ethanol production could reduce revenue losses by up to $5.7 billion annually.
Much like the $300 billion in uncollected taxes, this $5.7 billion is about "uncollected revenue"...saying that they could have more money coming in if they did something different.
This counts as "wasted spending"?
Homeland Security/Law Enforcement Strategic oversight mechanisms could help integrate fragmented interagency efforts to defend against biological threats.
So if we made all cops in the nation part of one national police force, we could save money?
Hmmm.
The GAO is saying that if we radically reorganized government, we might be able to save some money.
i) Congress can't even pass a farm bill, how is it supposed to radically reorganize government?
ii) That is not "waste"...it is a product of having suboptimal organizational design, from the viewpoint of the GAO, as directed by Senator Tom Coburn.
Now let's look at the $67 billion from the Inspector General:
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/06/25/ How-Obamas-Auditor-Vacancies-Waste-Billions.aspx#p age1
this is the support:
Indeed, a recent report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that the number of unimplemented IG recommendations cost taxpayers $67 billion and the agencies with the most unimplemented recommendations, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and USAID, all have IG vacancies.
That's it.
OK, I'm obviously bored, so let's go look for that $67 billion.
Well, well, well...it comes from Congressman Darrel Issa!
http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013 /03/Staff-Report-Open-Unimplemented-IG-Recs.pdf
I read that report.
It didn't identify any of the $67 billion as "waste".
Instead, much like the GAO study, it was about possible revenue enhancement or reduced spending associated with changes in the way that government operates.
I tried real hard to find any solid numbers from the Issa report.
Maybe you'll have better luck.
Let's see where we are:
$ 300 billion "uncollected tax"
$ 168 billion
$ 115 billion "random waste # from article about Medicare waste."
$ 95 billion "GAO overlapping programs"
$ 67 billion "Issa report"
That adds to $745 billion.
That leaves $43 billion.
I'm getting bored, but let's look at the biggest remaining category:
$14 billion in "consumer fraud".
This turns out to be estimated annual
The four largest root causes of UI improper payments: „« Payments to individuals who continue to claim benefits after they have returned to work (Benefit Year Earnings); „« Failure of employers or their third party administrators to provide timely and adequate information on the reason for an individual¡¦s separation from employment (Separation); „« Failure of claimants to comply with the states¡¦ work search requirements (Work Search); and „« Failure to register the claimant with the state¡¦s Employment Service pursuant to the state¡¦s law (ES Registration).
Well, finally we have some
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Summing up:
$300 billion of the "waste" was somebody's estimate of how much more tax we would collect (net)...assuming we spend an additional $160 billion a year on IRS enforcement.
(The current IRS budget is less than $15 billion.)
$168 billion was money spent on Iraq and Afghanistan.
Those two add to $468 billion of the $788 billion.
In other words, almost 2/3 of the $788 was utter bullshit.
Of the remainder, three numbers are almost certainly overlapping:
$115 billion of "waste, including Medicare" cited in an article about Medicare waste.
$95 billion of "suboptimal organization" (GAO)
$ 67 billion of "unimplemented recommendations for efficiency".
By the way, that GAO report has no mention of $95 billion.
Nor any dollar attribution to waste.
When I did goog&bing searches for March 2011 GAO report $95 billion, all I get is right wing web sites and the office of Tom Coburn*.
I think Tom Coburn made up the $95 billion.
And "waste".
What kind of "journalist" claims $300 billion in potential additional tax revenue - assuming a massive increase in IRS audits after tripling the number of IRS workers - as "wasteful spending"?
What kind of "journalist" claims $168 billion spent fighting wars as "Government Waste"?
What kind of "journalist" claims $95 billion of waste from a report that has no waste and no $95 billion?
I think we know.
*Other than GAO links, none of which have $95 billion in them, and none of which label the report as describing waste and/or wasted spending
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