Mr. President, here’s another cut

Inefficiency, inaccuracy and underuse in managing federal property costs taxpayers at least $1.6 billion each year, according to a report the House Subcommittee on Government Operations issued in February. Of course, this can't be put at the feet of the current administration--the federal government has been growing for years regardless of who was President. But this one could stop it.

http://oversight.house.gov/hearing/failures-in-managing-federal-real-property-billions-in-losses/

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-283

It could even be a 2-fer if the Department of Education were dismantled and its property sold. Educational accomplishment in the U.S. has flat lined while federal spending has soared since the ED was established in 1979 under Carter.

If the IRS and Medicare had a baby

it would look like this

H.R. 3926

You can track it, or any legislation, here. Here is the pretty, but distorted and bloated, title: "To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care..."

And there's a word of caution at the site: "This bill is very large, and loading it may cause your web browser to perform sluggishly, or even freeze. This is especially true for old and/or bad browsers. As an alternative you can download the PDF of the bill or read the text on THOMAS." And they were right. I clicked. It spun a bit, then sputtered.

If you can get to Washington by Thursday there is a protest being planned. They are ignoring our letters, phone calls and e-mail. Congress just doesn't get it. They should have cleaned up the mess in the government plans we already have wasting millions a year. But no. They wanted something even bigger and messier.

I don't know anyone who has had their health insurance cancelled for going beyond the limits of the policy, or for not disclosing a prior condition. I'm sure it happens. However, I do know several who have waited months or years through numerous appeals, and piles of documentation, waiting for some level of government to act on their case. We also know, that this bill will cut the benefits for seniors, and that will immediately put a burden on the "sandwich" generation who will then need to be doing more hands on care--along with that garden the President wants you to plant in the back yard, and the clothes line you'll need as we become energy starved. Oh, hope and change.

Let's eliminate the fraud and waste now

So writes Cameron Wiley, MD, in today's letters to the WSJ. If that's a problem in a government plan, why would making it bigger automatically eliminate the waste and fraud? Why didn't he start on that on Janaury 21 if he was in such a big rush to reduce costs, save lives, and make Americans healthier?

Because that isn't what this "reform" is all about. It's about power over an industry and control of our lives.

If it weren't, then he would have looked at the 30 million (noticed he reduced that from 47 million in his recent speeches, having apparently figured out the foreign element) and figured something out that didn't change it for the other 90%.

Why do they think they can make automobiles?

“The waste highlighted in this report is only a fraction of the more than $385 billion the federal government throws away every year through waste, fraud and duplication. Yet, each example in this report is a snapshot that tells a larger story, just as the Bridge to Nowhere justifiably became a symbol of the corrupting nature of earmarks. The story the American people already understand is that Congress’ inability to make common sense decisions about spending priorities is putting our children’s future at risk. Until Congress abandons the short-term parochialism that gives us LobsterCams and inflatable alligators, we will never get a handle on the major economic challenges facing this country,” [Senator Tom Coburn, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Relations]. See Full Report, "2008 Worst Waste of the year."

"We could say they spend money like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair--to drunken sailors. It would be unfair, because the sailors are spending their own money." - Ronald Reagan on Congress