The Patriot Post® · $100 Billion in Bad Payments

The federal government wastes a lot of money, that much is inarguable. But thanks to Veronique de Rugy and Jason Fichtner, we have some new detail, specifically on various welfare programs and wrongful recipients. Medicare fee-for-service is the worst offender in nominal terms, with nearly $30 billion in improper spending in 2012 alone. But the Earned Income Tax Credit is worse in percentage terms – de Rugy writes that it’s “responsible for $12.6 billion in improper payments, almost a quarter of what the program spent in 2012.” In conclusion, she says, “The reality is that federal spending has grown too massive to be adequately overseen, and the resultant waste, fraud, and abuse squanders public resources and undermines trust in government.”