A report from the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, “Examining Widespread Fraud in Pandemic Unemployment Relief Programs”, considers fraud in the unemployment benefits program put in place during the pandemic:
[T]he U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that about 11 to 15 percent of total benefits paid during the pandemic were fraudulent, totaling between $100 to $135 billion.
Unofficial estimates place the loss rate at as much as 40%.
I think there’s almost no end of directions in which to point the finger of blame. Clearly, the program was not well-designed or administered. I recognize the complexities the circumstances presented. Those are no excuse. That’s a black spot against the Trump Administration.
However, the blame doesn’t stop there. Equally clearly, the program was conceptually flawed. That’s a black spot on the Congress.
Finally, those who perpetrated the frauds share a lot of the blame. I’m reminded of John Adams’s observation about the then newly-written Constitution:
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
What sort of government will be needed to maintain order among the sort of people we are becoming?
One last observation. The estimates of waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government have long been between 3% and 7%. What if it’s actually 11% to 15%? What if it’s actually 40%?
Given the evidence presented by the House committee I think the burden of proof lies on the federal government. Low levels of waste, fraud, and abuse can no longer be assumed.
Isn’t unemployment insurance benefits administered by the States, the Federal governments role is limited to setting the eligibility guidelines (via law) and providing the funds. The fault here is mainly on the States and Congress, not on the Federal executive branch.
Where you can blame Trump for in lax administration of pandemic assistance is PPP loans/grants.
The last category of major “fraud” is the ERC credit. That one is on Congress as it defined an “unforeseen” and overly generous definition for which businesses qualified and refusing to revise it when it became obvious it was being “abused”.
What if it’s 100%? 90%? 80%? Dont see the point in those kinds of claims. I would stick with actual efforts made to measure it rather than speculate. The money pumped out during covid was speed focused so it had fewer precautions. This was not surprising. Happens in the private world also. We should make some attempts to prosecute and get that money back but people are now spreading the propaganda that the IRS doesnt get more money when you expand their capabilities.
As an aside, I would bet that the people who complain about this loudest will also be people who complain a lot about government being too slow.
Steve
“Clearly, the program was not well-designed or administered.”
Of course. Its government. And no, I’m not an anarcho-capitalist. I just understand the human condition, and therefore desire to limit the power of the politicians and bureaucracies that lord over us to a smaller list of tasks.
“Given the evidence presented by the House committee I think the burden of proof lies on the federal government. Low levels of waste, fraud, and abuse can no longer be assumed.”
No, they cannot. Its a large fraction. You can come at it another way. Politicians today are running on many (most) of the same issues they have run on for many, many decades. Yet countless dollars have been spent. What social ills have actually been resolved? Poverty? Education? Housing? Food/nutrition? Clothing for the poor is largely provided by the Goodwills of the world. Energy, the most intensive input in a modern economy, is in the hands of idiots preaching “the end is near” on a daily basis, while doling out money to favored entities for niche and uneconomic “solutions.” Our infrastructure is dilapidated. Shall we talk the electric grid and its vulnerabilities? Exactly what do we get for each dollar sent to government? A subsidized and bloated health care system? A subsidized and bloated education system? A bloated military/industrial complex?
I often hear that SS is an example of a successful program. I suppose it has alleviated grinding poverty. But a program that repeatedly enters insolvency, and must be repeatedly propped up by new taxes is not successful. Its a failure that is subsidized.
I’d say 40% is very, very charitable. But it sure does make politicians rich. Scranton Joe has some bitch’n properties…….and Nancy. Well, step aside Warren, Nancy blows you away.
“What sort of government will be needed to maintain order among the sort of people we are becoming?” Not becoming. Are.
I suppose you think some sort of heavy-handed totalitarian (leftist) government is impending, and that it will impose order and morality upon a fallen people. That is too optimistic. It also reveals a Puritan ideological bent. [When I was a boy in Massachusetts, the schools spent a lot of time on the Puritans. A nasty lot. Not to be confused with the Pilgrims.]
Chaos is built-in and unavoidable. So our future is something between Mexico and Nigeria. Is Venezuela the mean? Keep your dog indoors.
@steve is right about speed vs precautions.
Anybody remember standing in the grocery checkout line, and when the person in front pulled out a checkbook, you knew it was going to take a while. “Manager to aisle 4.”
I’m sorry, Tasty, but you are clearly an age discriminator. Your penalty is now being debated by the wise men.
You must do better, or face consequences. Personally, I suggest about a million dollars in reparations. People have been psychologically abused.
@Drew
… wise men …
Seems a little discriminatory. Actually, almost anytime I open my mouth I offend somebody. I do not understand this world, and I have stopped caring.
On topic, the government intentionally turned employed people into unemployed, intentionally closed businesses, and intentionally destroyed the economy. All this for a pathogen that can not compete against previous pandemics.