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Senator Coburn Holds Hearing Exposing Vast Waste.
Coburn himself ^
| Various
Posted on 07/16/2005 8:04:21 AM PDT by ConservativeMan55
Dr. Coburn Holds Hearing Exposing Vast Waste from Improper Payments
Says GAO has found only “the tip of the iceberg”
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, today held a hearing on improper payments in the federal government. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study estimated that improper federal payments, which mostly consist of overpayments, consume at least four cents of every federal tax dollar.
“At a time when our nation is fighting a war, facing mounting deficits and struggling to shore up Medicare and Social Security it is unconscionable for the federal government to waste countless billions of dollars,” Dr. Coburn said. “Improper payments can be eliminated almost entirely by practicing well-established accounting practices that are relatively easy to implement.”
“It is ironic that many politicians and bureaucrats in Washington believe they are entitled to police ‘corporate America’ but are themselves guilty of Enron-style mismanagement on a massive scale,” Dr. Coburn added. “Any private company that had a rate of improper payments close to the federal governments’ rate would be run out of business and face possible criminal prosecution.”
According to a report by the GAO, 17 federal agencies reported $45 billion in improper payments. Twelve other agencies did not even file a report. Future estimates of improper payments are likely to trend higher, according to the GAO, because many federal programs have not been examined.
“The improper payments we know about are only the tip of the iceberg. The federal government may squander five cents per dollar or $125 billion per year because agencies and members of Congress lack the political will and discipline to spend wisely,” Dr. Coburn said.
“We are also setting a terrible example for the emerging democracies we want to encourage,” Dr. Coburn added. “We waste more money every year through improper payments than many developing nations produce throughout their entire economies. That is a national and international embarrassment.”
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Oklahoma
KEYWORDS: 109th; coburn; federalspending; gao; tomcoburn; waste
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To: ConservativeMan55
2
posted on
07/16/2005 8:06:20 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55
3
posted on
07/16/2005 8:07:19 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55; SittinYonder; CoburnForPresident; PhiKapMom
Medicine Man Ping!!
4
posted on
07/16/2005 8:08:26 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55; advance_copy; reelfoot; Cyber Liberty; montag813; savedbygrace; SDGOP; Bahbah; ..
Ping over here check this out!
5
posted on
07/16/2005 8:10:35 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55
I'd like to see a breakdown of how that money is wasted. i.e. programs, departments, etc.
It's easy to spend money that's not yours.
6
posted on
07/16/2005 8:11:16 AM PDT
by
unixfox
(AMERICA - 20 Million ILLEGALS Can't Be Wrong!)
To: ConservativeMan55
7
posted on
07/16/2005 8:11:37 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: unixfox
"“At a time when our nation is fighting a war, facing mounting deficits and struggling to shore up Medicare and Social Security it is unconscionable for the federal government to waste countless billions of dollars,” Dr. Coburn said. “Improper payments can be eliminated almost entirely by practicing well-established accounting practices that are relatively easy to implement.”
I am sure this has some politicians reaching for their Malox.
8
posted on
07/16/2005 8:12:37 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55; nikos1121; joyspring777; RockinRight
9
posted on
07/16/2005 8:14:10 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55
10
posted on
07/16/2005 8:15:46 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55; CatQuilt; Rastus; MikeinIraq; linkinpunk; Dan from Michigan; Altair333
11
posted on
07/16/2005 8:16:55 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55; MississippiMan; fooman; ncountylee; Paladin2; TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig; ...
12
posted on
07/16/2005 8:18:43 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55; wagglebee; StriperSniper; mhking
13
posted on
07/16/2005 8:22:47 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55
14
posted on
07/16/2005 8:25:13 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55
"“It is ironic that many politicians and bureaucrats in Washington believe they are entitled to police ‘corporate America’ but are themselves guilty of Enron-style mismanagement on a massive scale,” Dr. Coburn added.
“Any private company that had a rate of improper payments close to the federal governments’ rate would be run out of business and face possible criminal prosecution.”
Ok....Whats his freeper name? LOL!
15
posted on
07/16/2005 8:26:15 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55
“Improper payments can be eliminated almost entirely by practicing well-established accounting practices that are relatively easy to implement.” If they believed this, we wouldn't have the Social Security fiasco we have today.
16
posted on
07/16/2005 8:30:36 AM PDT
by
goodnesswins
(Our military......the world's HEROES!)
To: goodnesswins
Exactly!!!!
We need about 99 more Senators like Dr. Coburn.
17
posted on
07/16/2005 8:31:25 AM PDT
by
ConservativeMan55
(DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
To: ConservativeMan55
The GAO: one of the few government bureaucracies actually trying to protect taxpayers' rights.
18
posted on
07/16/2005 8:57:21 AM PDT
by
exDemMom
(Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
To: ConservativeMan55
Within the military, the "is this necessary" test needs to get implemented. I'd willingly trade my salary for the amount of money spent for furniture to replace perfectly good furniture. Bottom line, if the desk was purchased during the Johnson administration, and it still works, it doesn't need replacing.
19
posted on
07/16/2005 9:05:07 AM PDT
by
Meldrim
To: ConservativeMan55
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