Topline: According to a recent report from OpenTheBooks.com, the Biden-Harris administration has surpassed $1 trillion in improper payments, setting a new record for money wastage in four years.
Key facts: Improper payments — money the federal government sent to the wrong people, for the wrong reasons or in the wrong amounts — totaled more than $800 billion, adjusted for inflation, from 2021 to 2023.
That’s $450,000 per minute. If you take about 5 seconds to read this very sentence, the government will have wasted $37,500 in incorrect payments.
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Medicaid and Medicare accounted for 43% of the improper payments last year, but problems were found across the board. The dead received $295 million, most of it in pension benefits sent by the Office of Personnel Management to deceased former federal employees. Prisoners received $171 million.
The Internal Revenue Service spends $25 billion on fraudulent and incorrect tax deductions, with some IRS programs reporting error rates exceeding 30 percent.
This problem is not new, but it is getting worse. Barack Obama squandered about 4% of his spending on improper payments during his second term. Donald Trump squandered about 5% and Biden approached 6%.
background: Even California Democrats have realized that the error rate is out of control. The bipartisan “Improper Payments Transparency Act” advanced in committee with four sponsors, including Representatives Jimmy Panetta and Scott Peters. We need the President’s budget to figure out how to reduce improper payments.
Opposition also emerged from within the Biden administration. When the Environmental Protection Agency received bonus money from the Inflation Reduction Act, Inspector General Sean O’Donnell told Congress it would be difficult to spend the $27 billion a year needed without payment errors. Despite this, no money was spent on supervision.
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Important Quotes: Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) had a short response when the Washington Times shared with her its investigation of OpenTheBooks.com’s improper payments. “Oh my god, that was more than I thought.”
Support quote: Some lawmakers take issue with the government’s efforts to collect overpayments after they are mailed.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) told the Washington Times, “It’s unfair for our residents to receive a letter a year after making a mistake.” “They already spent the money. They live from check to check. “They don’t deserve to be punished.”
summation: The congressional budget is growing and swelling every year. There is no room for a trillion dollars to be wasted due to careless mistakes.
Forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com bring you #WasteOfTheDay.
Syndicated with permission from RealClearWire.
