� Previous | Main | Next �
March 01, 2011 6:33 PM
ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: With Congress currently embroiled in a contentious spending fight, the Government Accountability Office has found that a staggering level of duplication is plaguing the bloated federal budget, chewing up billions of dollars in funding every year, and making at least one Senator furious.
?Makes us look like jackasses,? Senator Tom Coburn, R-Ok, told ABC News today. ?What would you think? You are paying men and women to come to Congress to be good stewards of the money and then you get a report out like this that says you are absolutely not good stewards of the money.?
You can watch exerpts of the interview with Senator Coburn HERE.
In a new report obtained by ABC News, the GAO determined that ?reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation could potentially save billions of taxpayer dollars annually and help agencies provide more efficient and effective services.?
Even when it comes to chickens and eggs there are a tangle of redundant programs. It's almost embarrassing. Take the overlap between The Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture: The FDA is responsible for ensuring eggs are "safe, wholesome and properly labeled."� The Department of Agriculture, too, is responsible for "eggs processed into egg products"
The Department of Agriculture is also responsible for the "health of young chicks" while the FDA oversees the safety of "the food they eat."� Got that?� All told 15 separate agencies have responsibility for food safety.
In agency after agency, the report finds overlapping programs wasting billions of dollars and programs that are almost never assessed to see if they are working.
?We are mismanaged, misled and incompetent and the American public needs to hold us accountable,? Coburn said.
Need some more examples?� The report found 82 different programs with similar descriptions in 10 different agencies for roads and trains.� And job training? Forty different programs with 44 of them overlapping.
Senator Coburn, who asked for the report, says it is an indictment of Congress, which ultimately creates all these programs.
?It is all congress? fault,? Coburn said. ?This is an indictment [on] both Republicans and Democrats and on administrations run by both Republicans and Democrats not leading.?
Coburn says the report it all adds up to hundreds of billions in spending on overlapping programs and over a trillion dollars in waste over the course of a decade.
And then there's this:� There are 56 programs in 20 federal agencies designed to teach Americans financial literacy.� There's certainly a need for that. Especially in the place that gave us a $14 trillion debt.
�-Matthew Jaffe and Gregory Simmons contributed to this report.
�
�
�
March 1, 2011 in 2010 , Congress, Jonathan Karl | Permalink | Share | User Comments (25)
This needs to be the main focus of government news for a least a week. We shouldn't let them avoid this report and let it die.
Posted by: MikeMo1947 | Mar 1, 2011 7:06:37 PM
It's always astounding to hear the GOP cry about the deficit when they don't have the white house and when they do, totally ignore it. Look at history of each administration and congress going back to Reagan. Republicans have
NEVER been "good stewards" of anything.
Posted by: dan | Mar 1, 2011 7:14:03 PM
There's the needed BUDGET CUTS without hurting the everyday Americans, children, elderly!
The "Freshmen Republicans" should be able to run w/this one! They can FREEZE all spending for the specified duplication - then by the end of "Fiscal Year 2011" they should be able to clean it up and get the "Friends & Family" off payroll!
Posted by: Dpw | Mar 1, 2011 7:25:29 PM
One of the big problems with our congressional delegations is that, no matter what their party affiliation, no matter which states elected them, as a body Congress is charged with legislating for the ENTIRE country, not just their state, their party, their campaign contributors. Unfortunately, that doesn't describe the Congress of the UNITED States of America, but does describe to many of the Senators and Representatives in Congress today and within the last 30 years.
Posted by: Arlene Nidel | Mar 1, 2011 8:36:39 PM
GREAT news for conservatives that want to cut taxes!!! ---- we can cut a couple of hundred billion dollars and not even cut services!!! --- There goes the Dems excuses out the window!!!!
Posted by: TheLoyalOpposition | Mar 1, 2011 9:00:05 PM
OOOOOOOPS --- I meant.... conservatives that want to cut "SPENDING"!!!
Posted by: TheLoyalOpposition | Mar 1, 2011 9:01:00 PM
DAN | Mar 1, 2011 7:14:03 PM Said: "It's always astounding to hear the GOP cry about the deficit when they don't have the white house and when they do, totally ignore it. Look at history of each administration and congress going back to Reagan. Republicans have NEVER been "good stewards" of anything."
======================================
LOL!...you can say that again.
Posted by: J.Welsh | Mar 1, 2011 9:27:29 PM
we could cut perhaps $200 billions from such stupid things the Congress have ever done. so, who said that we couldn't cut spending, and there you go!
Posted by: cellisis | Mar 1, 2011 9:27:58 PM
DAN | Mar 1, 2011 7:14:03 PM Said: "It's always astounding to hear the GOP cry about the deficit when they don't have the white house and when they do, totally ignore it. Look at history of each administration and congress going back to Reagan. Republicans have NEVER been "good stewards" of anything."
======================================
LOL!...you can say that again! Tom Coburn, you've been in congress since 1995 (16 YEARS!)...and you're just now figuring this out?... LMAO!... Talk about political grandstanding.
Posted by: J.Welsh | Mar 1, 2011 9:30:38 PM
JOBS JOBS JOBS
HEY REPUBLICANS, WHERE ARE ALL OF THOSE JOBS YOU PROMISED US LAST NOVEMBER?
GET CRAKIN, IT'S ALREADY MARCH!
Posted by: BEEBEE | Mar 1, 2011 9:40:39 PM
Let's get this budget problem solved! Every elected official should give up one day's pay--that includes representatives, senators, anyone who has thier job because we voted them in. Give up one day's pay each month for one year. These officials make close to $200,000 a year! They can cut back like the rest of America. Then maybe I can keep my teaching job, pay for my family's health insurance and put food on my table every night. They are asking us to sacrifice, let them set the example!
Posted by: S Dishman | Mar 1, 2011 10:10:31 PM
I am always cautious of Colburn due to his Koch Brothers ties but he may be right on this one.
Posted by: Debbie | Mar 1, 2011 10:12:48 PM
Isn't this exactly what President Obama said back in January during the State of the Union? Remember the salmon?
Posted by: Nicole | Mar 1, 2011 11:00:04 PM
Thank you, Coburn, for actually getting this done, as opposed to others-- who only talk about it.
These positions/jobs must be entirely Eliminated; we can't allow them to "shift" elsewhere within the government.
The carelessness and irresponsibility in our government is downright sickening to any taxpayer and much of the reason why federal, state, local workers are not exactly respected.
What steps are being taken to ensure this isn't repeated in the future?
Posted by: Paul | Mar 2, 2011 1:54:29 AM
Let's get this budget problem solved! Every elected official should give up one day's pay--that includes representatives, senators, anyone who has thier job because we voted them in. Give up one day's pay each month for one year. These officials make close to $200,000 a year! They can cut back like the rest of America. Then maybe I can keep my teaching job, pay for my family's health insurance and put food on my table every night. They are asking us to sacrifice, let them set the example!
Posted by: S Dishman | Mar 1, 2011 10:10:31 PM
_____________________________________
AMEN!!!!
I've been saying the same thing for weeks but I go a bit farther than you do. Cut each member's pay in half. They would still be in the top 20% of wage earners in the country. They should end their pension plans and start paying into a 401K like all of the private working people. We'll match them at the average rate of working class citizens. I get 5% across the board (which is pretty good) so I'd be comfortable with them getting the same. Healthcare? Again, pay comparable to the working class. When they take these steps to reduce spending and lead by example I'll take them seriously. Until then, meh!!!
Posted by: dk | Mar 2, 2011 5:12:25 AM
It IS the fault of ALL of them. We pay these bozos to run the country and they can't even balance a checkbook and act like babies while taking our money right and left.
Posted by: Jeff | Mar 2, 2011 5:50:33 AM
Hey Tom, I'm a conservative and I don't care how it makes congress look, if this can cut as much as they say DO IT!
That said if this turns out not to be the case and is just an administration ploy to get congress to back off on the budget cut proposals it will not be forgotten in 2012.
Posted by: hkdakota | Mar 2, 2011 5:54:12 AM
Senators like Tom Coburn are causing these things along with members of Congress, yet are reading published articles by very professional writers and picking up the ideas they write about including making the public aware of the fault of Congress. These same politicians that are causing this injury against citizens of the US then report to the press as if they discovered something.
What criminality they hold in their minds to so deeply ruin this nation, to hoard property, finances in tax dollars, amassing wealth from private citizens.
Americans need to run these crooks out of Washington and never let them return including Tom Coburn.
Posted by: American | Mar 2, 2011 7:29:53 AM
And you want to throw Obamacare on top of this?????
Posted by: billy bob | Mar 2, 2011 8:11:45 AM
When did America become a welfare nation? When did begging for a handout from government become acceptable? It's wrong. Americans are not beggars and thieves, stealing from their neighbors.
Posted by: sd92040 | Mar 2, 2011 8:40:18 AM
Post a comment
Source: http://feeds.abcnews.com/click.phdo?i=c9a57e1ce40904c70f946b825b14e52e
Saparmurat Niyazov Ehud Olmert Ron Paul Colin Powell Vladimir Putin
No comments:
Post a Comment