Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Yikes !

This commentary is totally non-political. What you are about to read should have the same effect on everybody . . . male, female, conservative, liberal, black, White, brown, or green! Hopefully, after you read the following, you will forward it to everybody that you know, and perhaps even those you don’t know.
I had a difficult time trying to pick out the best title for this piece. The main contenders for the title were:
“The best laugh I have had in years.”
“It’s so unbelievable that I cried.”
“You can’t make this stuff up.”
“WTF, Are you kidding me.”
As I thought this over, I decided that all of these were applicable, as you will see.
Yikes!
To begin, most of us are aware that the federal debt is high. FYI – the federal debt is $21.7 trillion. These large numbers are now being used so frequently that we have become numbed to what they actually mean . . . a million here, a billion there, a hundred billion everywhere! To emphasize this point I spelled out what $21.7 trillion actually looks like
 . . .  $21,700,000,000,000.
Yikes!!
We can probably all agree that this debt is too high. We can probably all disagree about some of the reasons for this . . . taxes too low, somebody not paying his/her fair share, subsidies too high, etc., but I think after reading this, we will be able to agree that there is too much waste and irresponsible spending.
“It’s so unbelievable that I cried!”
Each of the following things made me cry, and by the end I was a sobbing idiot!
-Mistakes & improper Medicare payments (FY2004-FY2017) – $387 billion
-Mistakes &  improper Medicaid payments (FY2004-FY2017) – $234 billion
-Mistakes & improper payments distributed 20 federal agencies (FY2004-FY2017) –
   $1.2 Trillion
-Mistakes & improper student loans and grants (FY2016-FY2017) – $11 billion
-Use it or lose it spending (final week of FY2017, all federal agencies) – $50 billion
-Mistakes & improper farm subsidy payments (FY2004-FY2017) – $3.7 billion
-Farm subsidies into urban areas with pop.>250K (FY2015-2017) – $626 million
-Farm subsidies into America’s 150 most expensive zip codes (FY2017) – $4.8 million
-389 farm subsidy recipients of +1 million – $667 million
And the farm subsidy finale!! . . .
-Farm subsidies to 12 members of Congress (FY2017) – $637,059
At this point you are probably saying, “Only 637K! Well that’s not so bad!”
Yikes!
“WTF, Are you kidding me!”
Fasten your seatbelts for these next few, as although the amounts are “comparatively small,” they are over the edge.
-67 non-military agencies purchase of guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment
  (FY2006-FY2017)- 2.2 billion. I shudder to think of why these 67 different agencies
   need all of this stuff!
-IRS purchase of guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment (FY2006-FY2017) –
  $15.5 million. Can someone, anyone, tell me why the IRS needs any of this!
-VA purchase of guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment (FY2006-FY2017) –
 $17.5 million. Can anyone explain to me why the Dept. of Veteran Affairs needs any of
 this?
-EPA purchase of guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment (FY2014-FY2017) –
  $3.4 million. Help, again! But at least they did not need as many guns, etc as either
  the IRS or the V.A.
-Fleet of armored vehicles for The Dept. of Health and Human Services (FY2017) –
  $1.5 million. Why would this department need one armored vehicle? A fleet!!!!!
Yikes!
I can’t take it anymore, so I must stop for now.
However make sure that you read  the next piece, as it will include:
“The best laugh I have had in years.”
“You can’t make this stuff up!”

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