Your Money is Gone says Government Accountability Office
Segment # 129
From my view this report card is pretty bleak. I certainly don’t seek it improving a downward trend that started with this administration. It is no longer politics, its self-preservation. When is enough really enough?
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We must end this wasteful political corruption that Washington calls earmarks.” Senator Ron Johnson said, “Earmarks are the gateway drug to more massive deficit spending. Even some Republicans joined with Democrats to contribute billions in earmarks to this bill, despite claiming to value fiscal responsibility.Mar 7, 2024.
What are we getting for our money besides as noted below paying off campaign contributors. There is a lot more but this is part of the report card
Education: The United States ranks 13th among industrial countries in K-12 education, according to the United Nations' Education Index.’ - Look who is beating us. 1. Iceland, 2. Germany, 3. New Zealand 4. Norway 5. Denmark 6. Finland 7. Switzerland 8. United Kingdom 9. Slovenia 10. Australia 11. Canada 12. Sweden 21. Russia 44. France 100. China. The latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that math and reading scores for 13-year-olds in the US have dropped to their lowest levels in decades.
Health: U.S. life expectancy is lower than in nearly every other high-income country and many middle-income countries. . This underperformance compared to peer countries is a growing concern. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK571929/
Suicide: In summary, the suicide rate in the United States has been rising significantly in recent years, with concerning disparities across different populations. Addressing underlying mental health, economic, and access to care issues will be crucial to reversing this troubling trend. https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/a-look-at-the-latest-suicide-data-and-change-over-the-last-decade/
Transportation: In summary, the search results indicate that the condition of roads and bridges across the United States has significantly deteriorated, with a large percentage in poor or mediocre condition and many bridges considered structurally deficient. This poses safety risks and increases costs for drivers. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/28/roads-bridges-decaying/2594499/
Economic stability: In summary, the shrinking of the middle class is a significant economic and social challenge that requires concerted efforts to address through policies that support middle-class prosperity
Drugs: CBP has seized 27,293 pounds of fentanyl coming across the Southwest border in fiscal year 2023, enough to kill more than 6 billion peoplehttps://homeland.house.gov/2023/10/26/factsheet-final-fy23-numbers-show-worst-year-at-americas-borders-ever/
Southern Border: Encounters at the Southwest border (SWB) in FY2023 increased over 40% since FY2021, 4% compared to FY2022, and more than 100% compared to FY2019. Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a 40% increase compared to September 2021 and 18% compared to September 2022.
Since President Biden took office, there have been 7.5 million encounters nationwide and 6.2 million encounters at the Southwest border, in addition to 1.7 million known gotaways. In FY2023, 169 individuals whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist were stopped trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry. 18 were apprehended in September alone. So far in FY2023, CBP has arrested 35,433 aliens with criminal convictions or outstanding warrants nationwide, including 598 known gang members, 178 of those being MS-13 members. In FY2023, CBP, including Air and Marine Operations, has seized 27,293 pounds of fentanyl, coming across the Southwest border—enough to kill more than 6 billion people.
Healthcare – Bang for your Buck – Higher Costs Lower Life Expectancy
The United States spends significantly more on healthcare per capita than other high-income countries.In 2022, the United States spent an estimated $12,555 per person on healthcare, which is the highest healthcare cost per capita across OECD countries. This is nearly double the average of $6,414 per person spent by other wealthy OECD countries, excluding the U.S. The main driver of this higher spending in the U.S. appears to be higher prices for healthcare services and goods, rather than higher utilization rates. Studies have found that the U.S. has higher prices for hospital stays, physician services, prescription drugs, and other medical goods compared to peer countries, even when utilization rates are similar or lower. Some factors that contribute to the higher prices in the U.S. include the consolidation of hospitals leading to less competition, inefficiencies in the U.S. healthcare administrative system, and the ability of pharmaceutical companies and medical providers to negotiate higher prices. Despite this much higher spending, the U.S. does not have better health outcomes than other wealthy countries. In fact, the U.S. performs worse on some common health metrics like life expectancy and infant mortality. This suggests the U.S. healthcare system is not providing good value for the significantly higher amount spent. In summary, the United States spends nearly twice as much per person on healthcare compared to other high-income countries, primarily due to higher prices rather than higher utilization, but this higher spending does not translate to better health outcomes
References:
https://www.oecd.org/health/Health-expenditure-differences-USA-OECD-countries-Brief-July-2022.pdf
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/
https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/07/how-does-the-us-healthcare-system-compare-to-other-countries
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cmd/education-expenditures-by-country
Biden Administration Made $236 Billion in ‘Improper Payments’ Last Year: GAO Report
The amount is bigger than what Washington spends on NASA, the Department of Education, and Homeland Security combined, a lawmaker said.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson returns to his office at the U.S. Capitol, on March 22, 2024. (Photo by Kevin
3/29/2024
An estimated $236 billion in improper or incorrect payments was made under the Biden administration last year, with Medicare and Medicaid accounting for $100 billion of that total, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
“For fiscal year 2023, 14 agencies reported a total estimated $236 billion in improper payments across 71 programs,” said a March 26 GAO report. Improper payments refer to payments “that should not have been made or were made in the incorrect amount.” The $236 billion calculation does not include certain government programs that agencies determined were “susceptible to significant improper payments.”
As such, GAO believes the $236 billion estimate “potentially does not represent the full extent of improper payments.”
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The group pointed out that improper payments suggest a “material deficiency or weakness in internal controls” at the agencies. “The federal government is unable to determine the full extent of its improper payments or to reasonably assure that appropriate actions are taken to reduce them.”
Medicare accounted for the largest percentage of government incorrect payments, totaling $51.1 billion.
This was followed by Medicaid at $50.3 billion, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance at $43.6 billion, Earned Income Tax Credit at $21.9 billion, and the Paycheck Protection Program Loan Forgiveness at $18.7 billion.
Out of the $236 billion, 74 percent were overpayments, 19 percent unknown, and five percent were underpayments.
“Nine federal programs reported improper payment estimates of $5 billion or more,” the report said. Meanwhile, “16 federal programs reported improper payment rate estimates of at least 10 percent.”
Improper payments in 2023 were $11 billion lower than in the previous fiscal year. The decline was attributed to factors like “terminating certain programs, implementing mitigation strategies, and suspending eligibility determinations for Medicaid during COVID-19,” the report stated.
total around $2.7 trillion.
In 2023, annual improper payments were at $35 billion. Such annual payments exceeded $100 billion for the first time in 2009 and $200 billion in 2020. “Reducing improper payments is critical to safeguarding federal funds,” the report said.
‘Systemic Mismanagement’
Following the release of the GAO report, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Committee on the Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), co-leaders of the Improper Payments Working Group, highlighted the need to control wasteful spending.
“It’s unacceptable our federal government made $236 billion in improper payments during the last fiscal year. This systemic mismanagement and waste of taxpayer dollars must be addressed,” said Mr. Comer. “As our national debt continues to balloon, it’s imperative we reduce government spending and waste.”
Mr. Comer vowed that the Improper Payments Working Group will continue to identify various ways by which the issue can be addressed.
Mr. Arrington pointed out that the $236 billion in wasteful spending is more than what the U.S. government spends on NASA, the Department of Education, and Homeland Security combined. He called the $2.7 trillion of wasteful spending since 2003 “a figure that is as stunning as it is unacceptable.”
“In order to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington, we must root out the gross mismanagement of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars, rein in spending, and reverse the curse of a debt crisis that looms large over our children’s future.”
Before the release of the GAO report, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) had highlighted the issue of improper payments.
“The government issued over $236 billion of improper payments in FY23, more than the entire annual budget of the US Army. I’m working to ensure the Administration takes steps to prevent improper payments & stops letting taxpayer dollars fly out the door,” she said in a March 24 post on the social media platform X.
Wasteful Spending
The GAO report comes amid Republican attempts to rein in wasteful government spending. Congress recently passed a $1.2 trillion spending package to avoid a government shutdown, which was signed into law by President Biden.
While the measure passed Congress with bipartisan support, many Republicans opposed the bill, pointing to what they deemed excessive and wasteful spending.
In a March 22 X post, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), said that he “voted against spending $1.2 trillion, including: $27 billion increase for the Pentagon, $880 million for Middle Eastern countries’ borders (but not our own!), and $300 million more for Ukraine.”
“With inflation raging, Washington politicians are wasting your tax dollars on 8,000+ pork barrel ‘earmarks’ projects in the two spending bills ... $487K for a museum renovation, $500K for opera house upgrades, $1M for a social justice center,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in an X post.
Former President Donald Trump has vowed to cut back on wasteful spending by the federal government if elected to a second term in office. “I will use the president’s long-recognized impoundment power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings,” he said in June last year.
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The former president blamed President Biden for wasting “trillions of taxpayer dollars” since 2021, which caused “uncontrolled inflation that is crushing working families.”
“Reining in Biden’s wasteful and unnecessary spending is vital to stopping inflation and rescuing our economy from ruin,” he said.
