More than $98 billion in improper gov't payments
WASHINGTON – More than $98 billion in taxpayer dollars spent by government agencies was wasted, much of it on questionable claims for tax credits and Medicare benefits, representing an increase of $26 billion from the previous year.
In all, about 5 percent of spending in federal programs in fiscal year 2009 was improper, according to new details of a government financial report that were released Tuesday.
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Among the reported waste:
_Agriculture: $4.3 billion in improper payments, or 5.9 percent of total department spending. Much of it was in the food stamp, federal crop insurance and school meals programs.
_Defense: $849 million, or 0.5 percent.
_Education: $599 million, or 2.1 percent.
_Health and Human Services: $55.1 billion, or 9.4 percent. That included improper payment rates of 7.8 percent and 15.4 percent in the Medicare fee for service and Advantage programs, respectively.
_Homeland Security: $644.5 million, or 3.7 percent. Much of it was in the Homeland Security grant program as well as Disaster Relief Fund Vendor Payments.
_Housing and Urban Development: $1 billion, or 3.5 percent. All of it was attributed to public housing and rental assistance.
_Labor: $12.3 billion, or 9.9 percent. Almost all of the improper payments were in the unemployment insurance program.
_Treasury: $12.3 billion, or 25.5 percent. All of it was attributed to improper payments in the earned income tax credit.
_Transportation: $1.5 billion, or 3 percent. Much of it was in the Federal Highway Administration planning and construction program.
_Veterans Affairs: $1.2 billion, or 2.7 percent. That included improper payments in the pension and other compensation programs.
_Social Security Administration: $8.0 billion, or 1.2 percent.
I don't know what you all had heard about, but I've heard of the defense department money repeatedly...yet they've messed up the
least, percentage wise. I guess it just doesn't work well to criticise the programs libs like...wouldn't look right and all that. whereas screaming about irregularities in the defense dollars is exactly what the MSM enjoys.
