Free Republic

It is telling that the Washington Post report on the religious Left’s Circle of Protection campaign for big government describes the effort as one that would “send chills through any politician who looks to churches and religious groups as a source of large voting blocs,” because, in fact, this is not an honest faith-inspired campaign to protect the “least of these” from Draconian government cuts, as claimed. It is a hyper-political movement that offers up the moral authority of churches and aid organizations to advance the ends of the Obama administration and its allies in Congress. The Circle of Protection, led by Jim Wallis and...

WASHINGTON, DC (July 14, 2011) – The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is investigating fraud and abuse in the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) program. Specifically, GAO is looking for information on cases in which federal employees are currently abusing workers compensation benefits. For example, fraud schemes might include a beneficiary working a second job, overstating their workers’ compensation claim, or collecting benefits for a deceased individual. Anyone with information regarding fraud or abuse of the FECA program by federal employees is encouraged to contact us at workerscompfraud@gao.gov. All information about individuals who contact us will be kept confidential.

(CNSNews.com) – The Department of Health and Human Services has granted a total of 1,372 waivers from ObamaCare insurance mandates since the law’s enactment, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. The waivers are for so-called mini-med plans that offer annual coverage limits. They were outlawed by ObamaCare and are scheduled to be regulated out of existence in 2014. However, such plans are often the only form of health insurance available to workers and without the waivers most would no longer be available.

Three people convicted of crimes as a result of a terrorism-related investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) were later naturalized as U.S. citizens by the Obama administration, according to federal auditors. The March 2011 audit (released on April 21, 2011) by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), entitled Criminal Alien Statistics: Information on Incarcerations, Arrests and Costs, shows that three individuals were among “defendants where the investigation involved an identified link to international terrorism but they were charged with violating other statutes [not directly related to terrorism], including fraud, immigration, drugs,

Last June, we broke the story titled “Planned Parenthood’s missing millions” that fo- cused on $1.3 billion of government money received by Planned Parenthood from 2003 to 2008, which was left unaccounted for when the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on the expenditures of federal funds by the abortion giant. Our question to Planned Parenthood was: Where are those missing millions? The Florida-based political “fact checker” Politifact joined with Planned Parenthood in a March 25 report headlined “Planned Parenthood funding: Did the GAO really find millions missing?” It attempted to exonerate the abortion giant’s lack of transparency in...

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said Congress needs to "move the debate from billions in spending cuts to trillions" when he unveiled his budget this week. He's right. The American people clearly support reducing spending. Our next task is to convince them why sweeping reforms and larger savings are needed. Key elements of Ryan's plan would essentially turn Medicaid into a state-based block-grant program and apply a premium-support model to Medicare (for those now under 55). While there is plenty of room for debate on the specifics, what should be beyond debate is the need for drastic change. The...

GAO Report Outlines Individual Mandate Alternativesby Wes Barrett | March 25, 2011 A new report from the Government Accountability Office suggests the federal health care law could hold together even if the Supreme Court strikes down the individual mandate. The report, requested by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., makes clear that the mandate is critical to the health care policy-without it, Americans with health insurance would be on the hook for an estimated $57 billion to cover increasing numbers of uninsured people. But the report lists alternatives that could potentially hold the health care law intact if the Supreme court rules...

In a newly released report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that, in fiscal year 2010, $48 billion in taxpayer money was squandered on fraudulent or improper Medicare claims. Meanwhile, the nation’s ten largest health insurance companies made combined profits of $12.7 billion in 2010 (according to Fortune 500). In other words, for every $1 made by the nation’s ten largest insurers, Medicare lost nearly $4. This is sobering news for the minority of Americans who (for some reason) continue to think that government-run health care is a model of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Last year, total outlays for Medicare were $509 billion;...

The U.S. government has 15 different agencies overseeing food-safety laws, more than 20 separate programs to help the homeless and 80 programs for economic development. The agency found 82 federal programs to improve teacher quality; 80 to help disadvantaged people with transportation; 47 for job training and employment; and 56 to help people understand finances.... The Food and Drug Administration makes sure that chicken eggs are "safe, wholesome, and properly labeled" while a division of the Department of Agriculture "is responsible for the safety of eggs processed into egg products." The report says there are 18 federal programs that spent...

...Even more scathing is the duplication investigators found in the nation's biodefense efforts, with the report essentially saying that the billions of dollars spent annually is the responsibility of no one individual and that there is no plan for post-attack coordination, this on the heels of a 2010 federal commission finding that gave the U.S. a "failing grade" in its prevention measures. ...The report touches agencies and programs across the federal government, from the Transportation Security Agency to homeless programs and domestic food assistance, and what emerges is a kind of bureaucratic morass where sometimes enough is not even known...

Issa investigating allegations that GAO destroyed evidence gathered during investigation of for-profit collegesMike Riggs - The Daily Caller – Fri Feb 4, 3:35 pm ET Two House committees appear to have locked horns with the Government Accountability Office over a 2010 investigation into the for-profit college industry. **SNIP** “Our staffs have recently learned that a senior [Forensic Audit and Special Investigations Unit] management official told a group of FSI employees in an internal meeting that, but for the video recordings made in this investigation, the problems with the report would have never come to light,” reads the most damning section...

First, it was the Education Department. Now, it's the Government Accountability Office. Lobbyists for career and technical colleges are using every tool at their disposal to fight the government for imposing itself on their clients. In the latest twist, the Coalition for Educational Success filed suit against the GAO Wednesday, alleging "professional malpractice" for its investigation of the industry and the subsequent report that was issued in August. The complaint said the nonpartisan government watchdog produced a "negligently written, biased and distorted report that foreseeably caused substantial financial injury" to coalition members. The Coalition for Educational Success represents a handful...

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said it could not render an opinion on the 2010 consolidated financial statements of the federal government, because of widespread material internal control weaknesses, significant uncertainties, and other limitations.   “Even though significant progress has been made since the enactment of key financial management reforms in the 1990s, our report on the U.S. government's consolidated financial statement illustrates that much work remains to be done to improve federal financial management,” Acting Comptroller General Gene Dodaro said in a statement. “Shortcomings in three areas again prevented us from expressing an opinion on the accrual-based financial statements.” The...

It's official. The United States' financial projections are on such shaky ground that to audit them would be an exercise in futility. In so many words, that was the conclusion of the Government Accountability Office this week as it threw up its hands when asked to issue an opinion on the Treasury Department's government-wide financial statements for 2010. The wonky watchdog office cited several problems with the government's numbers but particularly called out its projections on Medicare in explaining its ultimate decision not to release a decision. Though projected Medicare savings were used to build the case for the Obama...

Costly corrosion problems on the F-22 caused by stealth materials and coatings have been addressed on the F-35, but risks remain, concludes a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The GAO's presentation to Congress on its review of the DoD's corrosion evaluation report on the F-22 and F-35, completed at the end of September, says: "Corrosion of the aluminum skin panels on the F-22 was first observed in spring 2005, less than 6 months after the Air Force first introduced the aircraft to a severe environment. By October 2007, a total of 534 instances of corrosion were documented, and...

Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-22 jets began corroding soon after introduction into the U.S. Air Force in 2005 and the Defense Department plans to spend $228 million through 2016 to fix the deteriorating aluminum skin panels, the Government Accountability Office said in a report today. The newer F-35 aircraft, which are also built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed, have an improved design and use updated materials and paint to prevent the corrosion seen on the F-22 jets, according to the report sent to the Senate and House Armed Services committees. “Corrosion of the aluminum skin panels was first observed in spring 2005,...

Mobilizing the Globe Citizen Concepts announces the launch of PatriotAppTM, the world's first iPhone application that empowers citizens to assist government agencies in creating safer, cleaner, and more efficient communities via social networking and mobile technology. This app was founded on the belief that citizens can provide the most sophisticated and broad network of eyes and ears necessary to prevent terrorism, crime, environmental negligence, or other malicious behavior. Simply download, report (including pictures) and submit information to relevant government agencies, employers, or publish incident data to social network tools. Key Features: Integrated into Federal Agencies points of contacts FBI, EPA,...

GAO Sees Risks in LCS Mission Packages and Developmental Delays The Lockheed Martin-led team recently launched the third LCS. GAO Comments Proposed Dual Award Acquisition Strategy for LCS Program (Excerpts) 09:52 GMT, December 9, 2010 The U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is envisioned as a vessel able to be reconfigured to meet three different mission areas: mine countermeasures, surface warfare, and antisubmarine warfare. Its design concept consists of two distinct parts—the ship itself (seaframe) and the mission package it carries and deploys. The Navy is procuring the first four ships in two different designs from shipbuilding teams led by...

Here is the situation on the ground. Before the campaign really heated up, Cao actually led the polls by a wide margin, because his hard work and sincerity have made him very popular among all races and ethnicities in the New Orleans area. Once the campaign heated up and he was re-identified in the black community as a Republican, he dropped behind. But internal polls -- and my own anecdotal sources, as a native New Orleanian and veteran of New Orleans politics -- show him now within a typical survey's margin of error. He also has momentum. National Democrats, thinking...

Border Patrol agents trying to keep up with the pace of illegal immigration along the southwest border have gotten stuck in a kind of bureaucratic limbo, with a new government report showing federal regulations have stalled projects for months. In one case, it took the Bureau of Land Management almost eight months to issue a permit allowing Border Patrol to move an underground sensor in New Mexico. In another, Border Patrol officials were denied permission to improve maintenance on roads and surveillance in California, forcing the patrol routes north. In another, it took more than four months for the agency...