[Vision2020] Fw: This could be big

[Tom Hansen]

Golly, gee, Mr. Cabtree -

I can't help but notice that each (and every) item you copied and pasted
from the Heritage Foundation cites itself as substantiation

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste

I invite y'all to read up about the Heritage Foundation form their own 
website at:

http://www.heritage.org/About

Such as its view on "Family and Religion" at:

http://www.heritage.org/Initiatives/Family-and-Religion

"For example, the married family plays an important part in promoting
economic opportunity: children raised by never-married mothers are seven
times more likely to be poor when compared to children raised in intact
married families. Meanwhile, religious institutions and individuals form
the backbone of America’s thriving civil society . . . "

Once in a while, Mr. Crabtree, one must look behind the curtain to see
what is truly going on.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

PS - It would be interesting to find out how much it cost to fly the Saudi
royal family to the Bush ranch a few years back.



On Fri, April 22, 2011 6:06 am, Gary Crabtree wrote:
>>From
>> http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste
>
> A few specific examples would be:
>
>   1.. The federal government made at least $72 billion in improper
> payments in 2008.[1]
>   2.. Washington spends $92 billion on corporate welfare (excluding TARP)
> versus $71 billion on homeland security.[2]
>   3.. Washington spends $25 billion annually maintaining unused or vacant
> federal properties.[3]
>   4.. Government auditors spent the past five years examining all federal
> programs and found that 22 percent of them -- costing taxpayers a total
> of $123 billion annually -- fail to show any positive impact on the
> populations they serve.[4]
>   5.. The Congressional Budget Office published a "Budget Options" series
> identifying more than $100 billion in potential spending cuts.[5]
>   6.. Examples from multiple Government Accountability Office (GAO)
> reports of wasteful duplication include 342 economic development
> programs; 130 programs serving the disabled; 130 programs serving
> at-risk youth; 90 early childhood development programs; 75 programs
> funding international education, cultural, and training exchange
> activities; and 72 safe water programs.[6]
>   7.. Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to
> drink more responsibly on the job.[7]
>   8.. A GAO audit classified nearly half of all purchases on government
> credit cards as improper, fraudulent, or embezzled. Examples of
> taxpayer-funded purchases include gambling, mortgage payments, liquor,
> lingerie, iPods, Xboxes, jewelry, Internet dating services, and Hawaiian
> vacations. In one extraordinary example, the Postal Service spent
> $13,500 on one dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, including "over 200
> appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of
> wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as
> Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold." The 81 guests consumed
> an average of $167 worth of food and drink apiece.[8]
>   9.. Federal agencies are delinquent on nearly 20 percent of employee
> travel charge cards, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars
> annually.[9]
>   10.. The Securities and Exchange Commission spent $3.9 million
> rearranging desks and offices at its Washington, D.C., headquarters.[10]
>   11.. The Pentagon recently spent $998,798 shipping two 19-cent washers
> from South Carolina to Texas and $293,451 sending an 89-cent washer from
> South Carolina to Florida.[11]
>   12.. Over half of all farm subsidies go to commercial farms, which
> report average household incomes of $200,000.[12]
>   13.. Health care fraud is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $60
> billion annually.[13]
>   14.. A GAO audit found that 95 Pentagon weapons systems suffered from a
> combined $295 billion in cost overruns.[14]
>   15.. The refusal of many federal employees to fly coach costs taxpayers
> $146 million annually in flight upgrades.[15]
>   16.. Washington will spend $126 million in 2009 to enhance the Kennedy
> family legacy in Massachusetts. Additionally, Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
> diverted $20 million from the 2010 defense budget to subsidize a new
> Edward M. Kennedy Institute.[16]
>   17.. Federal investigators have launched more than 20 criminal fraud
> investigations related to the TARP financial bailout.[17]
>   18.. Despite trillion-dollar deficits, last year's 10,160 earmarks
> included $200,000 for a tattoo removal program in Mission Hills,
> California; $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody,
> Wyoming; and $75,000 for the Totally Teen Zone in Albany, Georgia.[18]
>   19.. The federal government owns more than 50,000 vacant homes.[19]
>   20.. The Federal Communications Commission spent $350,000 to sponsor
> NASCAR driver David Gilliland.[20]
>   21.. Members of Congress have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer
> dollars supplying their offices with popcorn machines, plasma
> televisions, DVD equipment, ionic air fresheners, camcorders, and
> signature machines -- plus $24,730 leasing a Lexus, $1,434 on a digital
> camera, and $84,000 on personalized calendars.[21]
>   22.. More than $13 billion in Iraq aid has been classified as wasted or
> stolen. Another $7.8 billion cannot be accounted for.[22]
>   23.. Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to top $2
> billion. In addition, debit cards provided to hurricane victims were
> used to pay for Caribbean vacations, NFL tickets, Dom Perignon
> champagne, "Girls Gone Wild" videos, and at least one sex change
> operation.[23]
>   24.. Auditors discovered that 900,000 of the 2.5 million recipients of
> emergency Katrina assistance provided false names, addresses, or Social
> Security numbers or submitted multiple applications.[24]
>   25.. Congress recently gave Alaska Airlines $500,000 to paint a Chinook
> salmon on a Boeing 737.[25]
>   26.. The Transportation Department will subsidize up to $2,000 per
> flight for direct flights between Washington, D.C., and the small
> hometown of Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY) -- but only on Monday mornings
> and Friday evenings, when lawmakers, staff, and lobbyists usually fly.
> Rogers is a member of the Appropriations Committee, which writes the
> Transportation Department's budget.[26]
>   27.. Washington has spent $3 billion re-sanding beaches -- even as this
> new sand washes back into the ocean.[27]
>   28.. A Department of Agriculture report concedes that much of the $2.5
> billion in "stimulus" funding for broadband Internet will be wasted.[28]
>   29.. The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets
> and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were
> refundable.[29]
>   30.. Washington spends $60,000 per hour shooting Air Force One photo-ops
> in front of national landmarks.[30]
>   31.. Over one recent 18-month period, Air Force and Navy personnel used
> government-funded credit cards to charge at least $102,400 on admission
> to entertainment events, $48,250 on gambling, $69,300 on cruises, and
> $73,950 on exotic dance clubs and prostitutes.[31]
>   32.. Members of Congress are set to pay themselves $90 million to
> increase their franked mailings for the 2010 election year.[32]
>   33.. Congress has ignored efficiency recommendations from the Department
> of Health and Human Services that would save $9 billion annually.[33]
>   34.. Taxpayers are funding paintings of high-ranking government
> officials at a cost of up to $50,000 apiece.[34]
>   35.. The state of Washington sent $1 food stamp checks to 250,000
> households in order to raise state caseload figures and trigger $43
> million in additional federal funds.[35]
>   36.. Suburban families are receiving large farm subsidies for the grass
> in their backyards -- subsidies that many of these families never
> requested and do not want. [36]
>   37.. Congress appropriated $20 million for "commemoration of success"
> celebrations related to Iraq and Afghanistan.[37]
>   38.. Homeland Security employee purchases include 63-inch plasma TVs,
> iPods, and $230 for a beer brewing kit.[38]
>   39.. Two drafting errors in the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act resulted in a
> $2 billion taxpayer cost.[39]
>   40.. North Ridgeville, Ohio, received $800,000 in "stimulus" funds for a
> project that its mayor described as "a long way from the top
> priority."[40]
>   41.. The National Institutes of Health spends $1.3 million per month to
> rent a lab that it cannot use.[41]
>   42.. Congress recently spent $2.4 billion on 10 new jets that the
> Pentagon insists it does not need and will not use.[42]
>   43.. Lawmakers diverted $13 million from Hurricane Katrina relief
> spending to build a museum celebrating the Army Corps of Engineers --
> the agency partially responsible for the failed levees that flooded New
> Orleans.[43]
>   44.. Medicare officials recently mailed $50 million in erroneous refunds
> to 230,000 Medicare recipients.[44]
>   45.. Audits showed $34 billion worth of Department of Homeland Security
> contracts contained significant waste, fraud, and abuse.[45]
>   46.. Washington recently spent $1.8 million to help build a private golf
> course in Atlanta, Georgia.[46]
>   47.. The Advanced Technology Program spends $150 million annually
> subsidizing private businesses; 40 percent of this funding goes to
> Fortune 500 companies.[47]
>   48.. Congressional investigators were able to receive $55,000 in federal
> student loan funding for a fictional college they created to test the
> Department of Education.[48]
>   49.. The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually
> not to farm their land.[49]
>   50.. The Commerce Department has lost 1,137 computers since 2001, many
> containing Americans' personal data.[50]
> These are mere drop in the bucket examples. Left up to me, entire
> departments would be eliminated starting with commerce, agriculture, and
> yes, education.
>
> I would go on but time is limited. Has this been adequately specific for
> you?
>
> g
>
> P.S. I'll throw in as a little can and did bonus for you the countless
> Obama white house parties, (think Paul McCartney comes cheap?) along with
> the current cross country campaign tour all paid for with the taxpayers
> credit card. Enjoy.