$200 Million For Digital Literacy

The Federal Communications Commission is considering a proposal to spend $200 million to create a digital literacy corps. This group of hundreds, even thousands, of trainers would fan out to schools and libraries to teach productive uses of computers for parents, students and job seekers.

Funding Fictitious Colleges and Students

In 2002, the Department of Education received an application to certify the student loan participation of the Y'Hica Institute in London, England. After approving the certification, the department received and approved student loan applications from three Y'Hica students and disbursed $55,000.

The education Department administrators overlooked one problem: Neither the Y'Hica Institute nor the three students who received the $55,000 existed. The fictitious college and students were created (on paper) by congressional investigators to test the Department of Education's verification procedures. All of the documents were faked, right down to naming one of the fictional loan student applicants "Susan M. Collins," after the Senator requesting the investigation.

Such carelessness helps to explain why federal student loan programs routinely receive poor management reviews from government auditors. At last count, $21.8 billion worth of student loans are in default, and too many cases of fraud are left undetected. Tracking students across federal programs, verifying loan application data with IRS income data, and implementing controls to prevent the disbursement of loans to fraudulent applicants could save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Duplication & Overlap in Federal Government

Senator Tom Coburn has issued a report titled "Facts About Duplication & Overlap in the Federal Government".  Here are some examples:

• The Department of Justice (DOJ): 253 Duplicative Programs costing $1.9 billion a year
• Diesel Emissions Programs: 14 different programs costing billions each year
• Early Learning and Child Care: 45 different programs costing at least $13.3 billion a year
• Employment for People with Disabilities: 50 overlapping and duplicative programs costing approximately $3.5 billion a year
• Financial Literacy: 56 duplicative programs costing $30.7 million a year
• Housing Assistance: Over 160 duplicative programs costing $170 billion a year
• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education: 209 federal STEM programs costing approximately $3.1 billion a year
• Support for Entrepreneurs: 53 different programs costing $2.6 billion a year
• Unmanned Aircraft Programs: 15 Overlapping Programs estimated to cost approximately $37.5 billion between FY2012 and FY2016

Unrecovered Federal Grant Money

At the end of fiscal year 2011, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) identified more than $794 million in funding remaining in expired grant accounts—accounts that were more than 3 months past the grant end date and had no activity for 9 months or more—in the Payment Management System (PMS). GAO found that undisbursed balances remained in some grant accounts several years past their expiration date: $110.9 million in undisbursed funding remained unspent more than 5 years past the grant end date, including $9.5 million that remained unspent for 10 years or more. GAO also found $126 million in grant accounts in the Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) for which there had been no activity for 2 years or more, including $11 million that remained inactive for 5 years or more. Click here for full report.

$18 Billion For Job Training

A study commissioned by Sen. Tom Coburn is casting doubt on whether taxpayers’ $18 billion annual investment in federal jobs training programs is paying off. “The vast majority of money we spend in job training doesn’t go to job training, it goes to employ people in those job training federal programs,” Coburn told  Fox News.

The 2011 Government Accountability Office study he commissioned, which examined programs in fiscal year 2009, found an overlapping and duplicative maze of 47 federal jobs programs run by nine agencies. Some were rife with mismanagement, waste, fraud, abuse and corruption. The study found:

• Some job training participants spent their days sitting on a bus.
• Some were trained for jobs that didn’t exist.
• Others were paid to sit through educational sessions about jobs they already had.
• High school students were knowingly exposed to the cancer-causing agent asbestos as part of a job training program.
• Funds were misspent to pay a contractor for ghost employees and to purchase video games.
• Job training administrators spent federal funds on extravagant meals and bonuses for themselves.
• In one state, workforce agency employees took more than 100 gambling trips to casinos mostly during work hours.

More Wasteful Spending on Solar Energy

The Nevada Journal has reported yet another example of wasteful spending on green energy: A Canadian company will receive up to $50 million in federal stimulus dollars for a Nevada solar plant — even though the plant will employ only two people! The article highlights some other striking statistics:

• According to the Department of Energy’s own estimates, the section 1603 energy payment program, part of the President’s stimulus package, created only 5,500 permanent full-time jobs nationwide despite spending nearly $10 billion—meaning that that each job cost taxpayers about $2 million!
  
• Energy from the solar plant will cost ratepayers nearly three times more than energy from natural gas. (This is thanks to mandates from the state government; it enacted a Renewable Portfolio Standard of 25 percent “green” energy by 2025.)

$50 Billion Food Stamp Program

In 2009 the food stamp program paid out approximately $50 billion in benefits; $2.2 billion of that total, however, was paid in error. More than 80 percent of the payment errors were overpayments, equivalent to $1.8 billion in program transactions, according to Kay E. Brown of the Government Accountability Office.

$1 Coin Could Save Taxpayers Billions

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) continues to recommend the elimination of the $1 bill and transition to the $1 coin.  The report indicates that eliminating the $1 note would save the country $4.4 billion over a 30-year period, or $146 million per year.  Today’s report marked the sixth statement by GAO in favor of switching to $1 coins.  Its five previous reports, published in 1990, 1993, 1995, 2000  and 2011, indicate savings of anywhere from $184 million to $522 million per year.

Most of the cost savings associated with coins comes from their comparative durability.  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces approximately 3.4 billion $1 bills each year, each of which costs 4.2 cents to manufacture and lasts 40 months.  By comparison, the $1 coin costs between 12 and 20 cents but has a lifespan of 30 years or more.  The $1 coin also saves money because it is cheaper to handle and process.

HHS Wasteful Billion Dollar Loan Program

Health and Human Services’ (HHS) wants to create non-profit health insurers with a $3.4 billion loan program even though the Department’s own actuarial estimates suggest at least $1 billion in taxpayer dollars may inevitably be wasted. Given prior failures in government lending, including huge loans to now bankrupt Solyndra, you have to wonder if this is a good idea.

Government Funds $400,000 Study on Gay Sex in Argentina Bars

Excerpts from a Fox News article:

Government researchers are spending more than $400,000 in taxpayer money to hit the bars in Argentina. The National Institutes of Health are paying researchers to cruise six bars in Buenos Aires to find out why gay men engage in risky sexual behavior while drunk -- and just what can be done about it.

An NIH official said that funds approved for the project include $275,000 for direct costs and an additional $125,000 in indirect costs, but would not elaborate. Though FOXNews.com could not confirm the median price of cervezas in Buenos Aires, that should leave a lot of money for tips.

More Wasteful Spending

It almost seems as though Congress actually enjoys inventing new ways to waste U.S. taxpayer money.  Here are some more examples:

1. A total of $3 million has been granted to researchers at the University of California at Irvine so that they can play video games such as World of Warcraft. The goal of this "video game research" is reportedly to study how "emerging forms of communication, including multiplayer computer games and online virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life can help organizations collaborate and compete more effectively in the global marketplace."
2. The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the University of New Hampshire $700,000 this year to study methane gas emissions from dairy cows.
3. $615,000 was given to the University of California at Santa Cruz to digitize photos, T-shirts and concert tickets belonging to the Grateful Dead.
4. A professor at Stanford University received $239,100 to study how Americans use the Internet to find love. So far one of the key findings of this "research" is that the Internet is a safer and more discreet way to find same-sex partners.
5. The National Science Foundation spent $216,000 to study whether or not politicians "gain or lose support by taking ambiguous positions."
6. The National Institutes of Health spent approximately $442,340 to study the behavior of male prostitutes in Vietnam.
7. Approximately $1 million of U.S. taxpayer money was used to create poetry for the Little Rock, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Chicago zoos. The goal of the "poetry" is to help raise awareness on environmental issues.
8. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spent $175 million during 2010 to maintain hundreds of buildings that it does not even use. This includes a pink, octagonal monkey house in the city of Dayton, Ohio.
9. $1.8 million of U.S. taxpayer dollars went for a "museum of neon signs" in Las Vegas, Nevada.
10. $35 million was reportedly paid out by Medicare to 118 "phantom" medical clinics that never even existed. Apparently these "phantom" medical clinics were established by a network of criminal gangs as a way to defraud the U.S. government.
11. The Conservation Commission of Monkton, Vermont got $150,000 from the federal government to construct a "critter crossing". Thanks to U.S. government money, the lives of "thousands" of migrating salamanders are now being saved.
12. In California, one park received $440,000 in federal funds to perform "green energy upgrades" on a building that has not been used for a decade.
13. $440,955 was spent this past year on an office for former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert that he rarely even visits.
14. One Tennessee library was given $5,000 in federal funds to host a series of video game parties.
15. The U.S. Census Bureau spent $2.5 million on a television commercial during the Super Bowl that was so poorly produced that virtually nobody understood what is was trying to say.
16. A professor at Dartmouth University received $137,530 to create a "recession-themed" video game entitled "Layoff".
17. The National Science Foundation gave the Minnesota Zoo over $600,000 so that they could develop an online video game called "Wolfquest".
18. A pizzeria in Iowa was given $60,000 to renovate the pizzeria's facade and give it a more "inviting feel".
19. The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave one enterprising group of farmers $30,000 to develop a tourist-friendly database of farms that host guests for overnight "haycations". This one sounds like something that Dwight Schrute would have dreamed up.
20. Almost unbelievably, the National Institutes of Health was given $800,000 in "stimulus funds" to study the impact of a "genital-washing program" on men in South Africa.

Is it any wonder that only 13 percent of Americans approve of the job that Congress is doing.

Foreign Aid

According to the government’s web site, www.foreignassistance.gov, Uncle Sam doles out more than $58 billion a year in foreign assistance through more than 20 agencies.

Here's what was requested in 2011:  Afghanistan ($3.9 billion), Pakistan ($3.1 billion), Israel ($3 billion), Egypt ($1.5 billion), Nigeria ($648 million), Russia ($68.7 million), China ($12.9 million), and even communist Cuba ($20 million).

Given our country's $16 trillion debt and economic problems, is this really the best use of taxpayer dollars?

Franking Privilege

While the post office is going bankrupt, members of congress have been using the "franking privilege" to mail what is essentially political advertisements at no cost to them. However, from 1988 to 2007 it cost taxpayers $113.4 million dollars. So much of these congressional mass mailings are to brag to their recipients on what a wonderful service their representative is providing and please elect me again. Another way that incumbents use taxpayer dollars to stay in office.

Federal Excess Properties

The Federal Government is the biggest property owner in the United States, and billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted each year on government properties that are no longer needed. These properties range from sheds to underutilized office buildings and empty warehouses.

Here is a government map that visualizes a sampling of about 14,000 buildings and structures currently designated as excess. This map shows just the tip of the iceberg in terms of opportunities for downsizing the Federal real estate portfolio. Under the President’s proposal, more properties, in some cases with significant market value, would be added to this map and dealt with more quickly and effectively than they are today.

A Permanent Underclass

The Washington Times has an interesting article on America's unemployed. Here is an excerpt:

The official unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, but the turmoil in the American labor market is worse than that number suggests. Bad policy and economic circumstances are combining to create a European-style permanent underclass on our shores.

In November 2009, the average length of unemployment was just over 29 weeks. In April 2012, that number was 34.5 weeks. Almost a third of the more than 13 million unemployed Americans - that is, almost 4 million people - have been idle for more than year, according to the most recent Pew Trust report. As Pew noted, the problem of long-term unemployment is worse now than it was in 2008, the official start of the Great Recession.

Congress is making the situation worse by continually extending the length of unemployment benefits. When people are paid not to work, they don’t work. Pew projects spending for jobless compensation for 2012 at $99 billion, which is a big number even by profligate Washington standards.

Click here for the full article.