Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Quick Reference
Fred Thompson FAQ: THE Fred Thompson Web Resource
Posted on 7/13/2007, 6:45:26 PM by Josh Painter
There is $220 billion worth of waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending, according to a months-long analysis of 17 federal agencies and departments by the Inspectors General of all the federal agencies and the General Accounting Office.
Their study, called "Government at the Brink - Urgent Federal Government Management Problems Facing the Bush Administration" (June 2001) was released by Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) on his last day as Chairman of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, before the Democrats took control of the Senate.
The Senate Government Affairs Committee staff lists the top 10 most egregious examples, including, for example, "The Big Dig" -- an as yet uncompleted highway and tunnel in Boston that has become the most expensive federal infrastructure project in American history, with a projected cost now of $13.6 billion, a 525 percent increase from the original estimate of $2.6 billion.
Mismanagement appears to be rampant, according to the report:
*The Department of the Interior cannot account for $3 billion it holds in trust for American Indians and the agencies that serve them.
*The Department of Defense cannot account for what it spends.
*Medicare lost $12 billion to improper, but easily identified, misspent funds in the fee-for service plan alone.
*The IRS has no idea what it collects in Social Security and Medicare taxes...
Government at the Brink, Volume 1
Government at the Brink, Volume 2
My dad was a personal friend of Howard Jarvis, author of California’s well known “”Proposition 13.”
Passed in the late, 70s, this has held property taxes down, and has survived many court attempts to change it.
Howard Jarvis was a smart old non-politician. A practical businessman, he determined the ONLY way to keep government spending down was to restrict the money they can get.
An elected President changes a few hundred people for a few years, but the underlying blob of permanent government employment keeps the regulations and bloat going, anyway.
So I say to Fred: Wonderful study. But good luck making much of it happen.
Reagan showed signs he did understand. Of course he was governor when Jarvis was in the news, so I’m sure they knew each other.
...and “Republicans” say it’s too expensive to build a wall.
What an effin joke.
And they complain about the cost of the war. $100b a year is a fraction of a $3T budget. I must say Thompson does not impress me with his old report.
Right. Maybe the dimwits should vacate their seats since they don’t seem to be able to focus on “We are up here to do the job of the people, not for our fat bank accounts and agendas”.
ClaireSolt wrote: “I must say Thompson does not impress me with his old report.”
Why am I not suprised? Because I’ve read some of your other posts and know that you’re backing Romney. You guys just can’t stand to see anything positive about Fred Thompson posted here.
Unlike you, I’m impressed. Fred’s work saved us billions in in just one federal department alone. Other politicians have cost us many more billions.
I’m with Fred for a smaller fed.
You misread me. I am not backing anyone. I am very impressed with Romney’s qualifications but I am still watching and learning about these people. It is my uess that Romney will win the nomination. but my guess is rarely correct.
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