My mother passed away in Feb of 2004 and in May of 2011 Medicare paid a claim, presumably fraudulent, for a number of tests that were allegedly performed on her behalf. Worse still, remarks in the paperwork noted that according to Medicare records she was deceased.
I bring this up to illustrate the fact that fraud is rampant in this program -- more than $60 billion per year by some estimates is lost to fraud. A GAO study found $100s of billions per year of waste because of duplicate government programs. Sen Coburn (R-OK) maintains a Wastebook to illustrate out-of-control government spending. Among the things he has highlighted are studies of Farmville on Facebook, March Madness and choosing baby names, and a shrimp running on a treadmill. Why are these things worthy of taxpayer money?
While on his European junket President Obama is promising to send billions more to bolster the Arab Spring and who knows where else. Where will he get the money? Well, America will borrow it from the Chinese. This is so strange I recap: we are borrowing money from one foreign country to give to other foreign countries. What are they thinking?
Hey Washington, wake up, WE ARE BROKE. We can’t afford to waste all of this money; soon Congress will vote to grant itself authority to borrow and spend even more money. On what?
Before the debt limit is raised the government should clean up its spending mess. When they can honestly say to the American people they no longer wasting 100s of billions of dollars then, and only then, should we discuss raising the debt limit.
Just as a drinking problem isn’t solved with more alcohol, a deficit problem won’t be solved with more borrowing. Let’s not raise the debt limit until government brings its spending binge under control.
Elko Mike
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