Talk About Government Waste.........Wow!

[get_involved]

Remember, folks -- this is the same government we're constantly reassured is responsible enough to efficiently manage our healthcare.

Well the reality is this: liberals whine about raising taxes. Well what they clearly can't get through their dense fucking heads is if all the useless shit the government pisses away money on was cleaned up and taxpayer dollars were used more effectively they might see Republicans be a little more willing to budge on that issue if it was truly needed. But I have a real damned hard time seeing a valid argument for raising taxes so we can throw it down the shit hole on crap like this.

I assume that the "useless shit" you refer to includes money that is lost to outright fraud. What I can't get through my "dense fucking head" is how a financial entity of the size of the US government can reduce the rate at which it is the victim of fraud to zero.

This reminds me of some other bizarre "concessions" I've heard people make:

- I'll compromise on taxes when the rate at which tax money is lost to fraud drops to zero

- I'll compromise on voting laws which restrict legitimate votes when the rate of illegitimate votes drops to zero

- I'll compromise on immigration reform when the rate of illegal border crossings drops to zero

- I'll compromise on counter-terrorism policy when the threat of terrorism drops to zero

- I'll compromise on sentencing reform when the rate of parolee recidivism drops to zero

These are of course vastly different policy matters, but those sentiments (all of which I've seen or heard expressed, often by elected officials) all suffer from the same logical flaw. All of the conditions describe are substantially less likely than independent porcine flight. It is rarely possible to eliminate a problem entirely, and enacting policies intended to do just that will lead to enormous costs without achieving that worthwhile goal.

Fraud should be prevented as much as is practical, but I cannot credit using a finite fraud rate to justify regressive tax rates.

How much fraud and waste is practical?

 

[Chris]

$2 trillion dollars wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

[DaGoose]

Dr. Coburn Releases New Report on Wasteful Government Spending in 2011: "Wastebook 2011" - Press Releases - Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma

And of course the Democrats answer to this waste is to raise taxes!

I thought the GOP controlled Congress was in charge of the spending. So does that mean that if these items are not addressed you will blame the GOP?

 

[Claudette]

The Govt pisses our money away because they are never held accountable.

Heads never roll.

They waste our tax dollars like money grows on a tree.

They seriously need to cut spending and go after waste and fraud. (kinda like the fox guarding the hen house) but they are the only ones who can do it.

Wonder how the Fed Govt would survive an audit by and outside auditing firm??

I suspect they would flunk miserably.

 

[Full-Auto]

Dr. Coburn Releases New Report on Wasteful Government Spending in 2011: "Wastebook 2011" - Press Releases - Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma

And of course the Democrats answer to this waste is to raise taxes!

I thought the GOP controlled Congress was in charge of the spending. So does that mean that if these items are not addressed you will blame the GOP?

Nope, democrats are on record that ANY CUT is extreme.

 

[BluePhantom]

Dr. Coburn Releases New Report on Wasteful Government Spending in 2011: "Wastebook 2011" - Press Releases - Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma

And of course the Democrats answer to this waste is to raise taxes!

I thought the GOP controlled Congress was in charge of the spending. So does that mean that if these items are not addressed you will blame the GOP?

The GOP doesn't control Congress. They control the House. The Senate is still controlled by the Democrats. Hard to blame the GOP when the house has passed...what....17 bills now addressing the economy and Harry Reid won't even let them come up for debate let alone a vote.

 

[DaGoose]

Dr. Coburn Releases New Report on Wasteful Government Spending in 2011: "Wastebook 2011" - Press Releases - Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma

And of course the Democrats answer to this waste is to raise taxes!

I thought the GOP controlled Congress was in charge of the spending. So does that mean that if these items are not addressed you will blame the GOP?

The GOP doesn't control Congress. They control the House. The Senate is still controlled by the Democrats. Hard to blame the GOP when the house has passed...what....17 bills now addressing the economy and Harry Reid won't even let them come up for debate let alone a vote.

But no matter how you slice it the budgets cannot be passed without the GOP members signing off on it.

So again......So does that mean that if these wasteful items are not addressed in the OP you will blame the GOP?

 

[blastoff]

and then there is this whopper;

Senator Mark Kirk had indicated prior to the debate on the spending bill that he would offer such an amendment, primarily in an effort to find a permanent home for the nuclear waste from the 11 plants in his home state of Illinois (as well as waste accumulated across the nation) and to ensure the nearly $15 billion spent to date on the Yucca Mountain repository and related activities was not squandered.
http://www.newenglandcouncil.com/assets/EE-Comm-Update-Yucca-Mtn-11-28-11.pdf

You guessed it the DOE/NRC has decided to shutter Yucca Mtn. and basically we the taxpayers spent 15 Billion and the several million it will take to shutter it, to dig a hole in Nevada.

Yeah, but look on the bright side. Without the Yucca experience the Big Dig in Boston never could have happened.

 

[daveman]

I thought the GOP controlled Congress was in charge of the spending. So does that mean that if these items are not addressed you will blame the GOP?

The GOP doesn't control Congress. They control the House. The Senate is still controlled by the Democrats. Hard to blame the GOP when the house has passed...what....17 bills now addressing the economy and Harry Reid won't even let them come up for debate let alone a vote.

But no matter how you slice it the budgets cannot be passed without the GOP members signing off on it.

So again......So does that mean that if these wasteful items are not addressed in the OP you will blame the GOP?

I will. Unlike you leftists, I don't automatically excuse everyone on my side of the aisle. If they screw up, I call them on it.

Meanwhile, are there any items on the list that you think are a good idea? If so, why?

 

[Vaard]

Dr. Coburn Releases New Report on Wasteful Government Spending in 2011: "Wastebook 2011" - Press Releases - Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma

And of course the Democrats answer to this waste is to raise taxes!

I thought the GOP controlled Congress was in charge of the spending. So does that mean that if these items are not addressed you will blame the GOP?

The GOP doesn't control Congress. They control the House. The Senate is still controlled by the Democrats. Hard to blame the GOP when the house has passed...what....17 bills now addressing the economy and Harry Reid won't even let them come up for debate let alone a vote.

you mean like the payroll tax cut extension bill that isnt allowed for a vote?

oh wait, that was repubs.......

but please continue on your point.......

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Remember, folks -- this is the same government we're constantly reassured is responsible enough to efficiently manage our healthcare.

....Now, we've merely gotta eliminate those.....

....RED-STATE KICK-BACK$!!!!

 

[DaGoose]

The GOP doesn't control Congress. They control the House. The Senate is still controlled by the Democrats. Hard to blame the GOP when the house has passed...what....17 bills now addressing the economy and Harry Reid won't even let them come up for debate let alone a vote.

But no matter how you slice it the budgets cannot be passed without the GOP members signing off on it.

So again......So does that mean that if these wasteful items are not addressed in the OP you will blame the GOP?

I will. Unlike you leftists, I don't automatically excuse everyone on my side of the aisle. If they screw up, I call them on it.

Meanwhile, are there any items on the list that you think are a good idea? If so, why?

Uh-huh. At some time a budget will be passed so we'll see.

 

[P F Tinmore]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce0abzUNvLE]DONALD RUMSFELD Vs CYNTHIA McKINNEY * THE ALTERNATIVE VIEW - YouTube[/ame]

 

[blastoff]

Here's what pisses me off all to hell about this list of government waste. It's not the first time we've heard about this crap. Every now and then something like this comes up, folks get wildly upset about it, and then it goes away and no one, NO ONE, in Washington follows through with an attempt to keep so damn much of our money from getting flushed down the toilet. An enormous amount of waste that just goes on and on year after year. Those bastards - both parties - just don't give a damn.

 

[BluePhantom]

I thought the GOP controlled Congress was in charge of the spending. So does that mean that if these items are not addressed you will blame the GOP?

The GOP doesn't control Congress. They control the House. The Senate is still controlled by the Democrats. Hard to blame the GOP when the house has passed...what....17 bills now addressing the economy and Harry Reid won't even let them come up for debate let alone a vote.

But no matter how you slice it the budgets cannot be passed without the GOP members signing off on it.

So again......So does that mean that if these wasteful items are not addressed in the OP you will blame the GOP?

If the GOP is responsible for blowing a shit ton of money on useless shit, sure. If the Democrats are responsible I'll blame them. If both are responsible (as I generally feel they are) I will blame them both.

 

[BluePhantom]

I thought the GOP controlled Congress was in charge of the spending. So does that mean that if these items are not addressed you will blame the GOP?

The GOP doesn't control Congress. They control the House. The Senate is still controlled by the Democrats. Hard to blame the GOP when the house has passed...what....17 bills now addressing the economy and Harry Reid won't even let them come up for debate let alone a vote.

you mean like the payroll tax cut extension bill that isnt allowed for a vote?

oh wait, that was repubs.......

but please continue on your point.......

You mean H.R. 3630 that passed the House over the opposition of 179 Democrats?

GovTrack: House Vote On Passage: H.R. 3630: Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011

 

[daveman]

But no matter how you slice it the budgets cannot be passed without the GOP members signing off on it.

So again......So does that mean that if these wasteful items are not addressed in the OP you will blame the GOP?

I will. Unlike you leftists, I don't automatically excuse everyone on my side of the aisle. If they screw up, I call them on it.

Meanwhile, are there any items on the list that you think are a good idea? If so, why?

Uh-huh. At some time a budget will be passed so we'll see.

Indeed we will.

So, you have no objection to any of the items on that list?

 

[daveman]

The GOP doesn't control Congress. They control the House. The Senate is still controlled by the Democrats. Hard to blame the GOP when the house has passed...what....17 bills now addressing the economy and Harry Reid won't even let them come up for debate let alone a vote.

you mean like the payroll tax cut extension bill that isnt allowed for a vote?

oh wait, that was repubs.......

but please continue on your point.......

You mean H.R. 3630 that passed the House over the opposition of 179 Democrats?

GovTrack: House Vote On Passage: H.R. 3630: Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011

Now, now, you know it's not fair bringing up facts in a discussion with leftists. They're woefully unprepared to deal with them.

 

[Navy1960]

decade ago, the Navy's premier airplane-development program dissolved amid recriminations and lawsuits. The airplane in question, the a-12, should have provided heavy, stealthy, long-range strike capability well into the twenty-first century -- a capability that is very much in demand, as recent events have demonstrated. It ended up instead as a $5 billion plane that never dropped a bomb.

The $5 Billion Misunderstanding: The Collapse of the Navy's A-12 Stealth Bomber Program | Foreign Affairs

Here is my feeling on this, Defense programs have become less about getting the best systems to the warfighter and more about contractor survival. It has resulted over the years in massive amounts of tax dollars wasted on systems that have never been flown, never been fielded , never been used, or took as was the case of the V22 over 21 years to develop. Think about that a moment in terms of thre development cycle of an aircraft like the SR-71 which Lockheed signed a contract to build in 1962 and took its first flight in 1964. While yes, these new aircraft are a bit more complex to build that the past, the time window has gotten longer and longer for these programs and what it has resulted in is the taxpyer becoming an ATM machine for the contractor much the detriment of the Military who needs these systems not 21 years from now but now. A real good example of this would be the USAF Tanker program which has been a boondogle that has lasted now for 12 years and all the while the KC-135 continues to fly even though it gets older and older and costs more to operate. So cutting is not always a bad thing, if one were too look at it more in light of reforming the way we do things rather than actually just taking an axe and cutting things.

 

[BluePhantom]

Well look. Here's the deal. Let me toss out a little hypothetical scenario. Let's say you have a good buddy; Joe we'll call him. Now Joe comes to you and says "hey I need $100 to pay my electric bill." Ok well you are a good caring person, you know Joe has a wife and kids at home. So you say "sure, here's $100. Go pay your bill."

Now the next day Joe comes to you and says "hey I need $100 to pay my electric bill." So you look at Joe and say "I gave you $100 yesterday" and he says "yeah well I took that to the track and lost it on the five horse. I need $100 more." Ok well you realize it's not the fault of the wife and kids that Joe pissed away the money so you give him another $100 and say "now go pay your damned bill."

The next day Joe comes to you and says "hey I need $100 to pay my electric bill." So you say "dude, I gave you $100 twice already. Where did the money I gave you yesterday go?" and Joes says "well you know it struck me that I hadn't taken my wife on a nice date for a while so I took her out for dinner and a movie. I need $100 more."

Ok now how long until you say to Joe "look mother fucker....I am not giving you another damned dime until you quit pissing away what I give you"? Well if you are a Democrat, apparently never. You never get to that point. You just keep ponying up over and over until you realize "well shit...Joe had a nice day at the track, he had a nice meal, had a good date with his lady, probably got laid...and shit...I don't have enough money to pay my own damned electric bill now."

This is liberal logic.