Monday, March 07, 2011
At a time when lawmakers, especially House Republicans, are looking for any excuse to kill funding for federal programs, the Government Accountability Office has released a report detailing the myriad ways Washington is wasting billions of dollars on duplicative efforts.
For instance, there are 15 different agencies involved in food safety. Even more (20) help the homeless, and even more than that—80 in fact—deal with economic development, including 52 that fund “entrepreneurial efforts” and 16 that fund industrial parks.
But that’s nothing. Teacher quality somehow has 82 federal programs addressing ways to improve it, while transportation for disadvantaged people touches 80 different government operations.
In the Department of Transportation there are more than 100 different programs that fund highways, transit, rail, and safety functions. The bipartisan leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has already proposed consolidating or eliminating 75 of these programs.
The GAO did not put a total price tag on how much this redundancy is costing taxpayers. However, it did say that up to $5.7 billion could be saved just by eliminating duplicative policies related to boosting ethanol production.
Deficit hawk Tom Coburn, a Republican U.S. senator from Oklahoma, claims the overall amount ranges between $100 billion and $200 billion.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Billions In Bloat Uncovered in Beltway (by Damian Paletta, Wall Street Journal)
GAO Cites Billions of Dollars in Duplication, from Military to Highways (by Aaron Mehta, Center for Public Integrity)
Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue (Government Accountability Office) (pdf)
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