I’ve written before about several reports released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which catalog duplication of and excess in programs across the government. The GAO offers suggestions on reducing the duplication that would release funding for other government programs and deficit reduction. You can find my prior blogs here and here. Here are some […]
Fraudsters Eating Your Lunch
In July, the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) released an investigative report entitled, “Fraudulent School Lunch Program Applications Filed by Public Employees.” The OSC discovered that 83 public employees, 26 individuals that were a spouse or partner of the public employee, and eight individuals that were another member of the employee’s family provided false information regarding their household income on applications for the school lunch program. Even more disturbing, six elected school board members from Newark, Paterson, and Pleasantville were part of the scam.
Seeing Double: Yes, Even More Duplication!
As part of a continuing series, CAGW is providing you with examples of duplication and overlap within the federal government that has been researched by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). In the 2011 GAO annual report, “Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue,” the agency offers 81 suggestions […]
It is None of Their Damn Business!
Last month the New Jersey Comptroller released a report on widespread fraud in their state’s school lunch program. More than 100 people on public payrolls, or members of their family, lied about their income in order to get their children on the free school lunch program. One school board member did not report any of […]
Payments to the Recently Deceased
A June 28, 2013 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled, “USDA Needs to Do More to Prevent Improper Payments to Deceased Individuals” bluntly lays out a pervasive problem that can be easily resolved.
Crony “Cropitalism”
Green Acres, a zany television sitcom that aired on CBS from 1965 to 1971, featured the antics of a former New York City attorney, Oliver Wendell Douglas (portrayed with stuffy effectiveness by Eddie Albert), and his ditzy, socialite wife, Lisa (played by the lovely Eva Gabor), who have invested their wealth into a dilapidated farmhouse and the equally dysfunctional farm on which it sits. The highfalutin city dwellers have moved to rural Hooterville, a surreal community of country bumpkins where everyday rules of common sense just don’t seem to apply. In fact, one episode featured a storyline in which the townfolk were convinced that they could receive tax refunds without ever having paid taxes: to Oliver’s bewilderment, they did.
Bottom Feeders Take a Bite Out of the Farm Bill
On June 10, 2013 the Senate passed its version of the 2013 Farm Bill, which included a provision to create a new catfish inspection office at the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jean Shaheen (D-N.H.) sponsored an amendment that would have eliminated the program, but a vote was blocked by Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).
Heard It Through the Grape Vine
What would you think of a government that believes too many raisins are being grown and harvested in a particular year so it decides to confiscate a portion of the crop? Even worse, more often than not, the government will not pay the farmer for the portion of the crop it has taken. Sounds almost Soviet-esque doesn’t […]
Farm Bill, Part 2: Divide (the Bill) and Conquer (the Conservatives?)
Rep. Frank D. Lucas (R-Okla.), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has proposed a strategy to move the chamber’s recently failed 2013 Farm Bill forward to passage by the House and on to conference with the Senate’s already passed version. Stung by the unprecedented defeat of a recurring piece of legislation once considered “must pass” […]
What “Big Daddy” Unruh Would Say About “Big Sugar”
The late Jesse Unruh – the colorful former Speaker of the California State Assembly and supposedly nicknamed “Big Daddy” either by bombshell Raquel Welch or after Tennessee Williams’ patriarch in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (depending on which urban legend you prefer) – was famous for many things, not the least of which was […]