This really irritates me! Why should we make up for losses due to fraudsters and criminals?

[KansDem]

Last week, Sen. Sanders reported that defense contractors defrauded the US government of $285 billion.

WASHINGTON — The US military paid $285 billion over three years to hundreds of military contractors that defrauded the Pentagon over the same stretch of time, a US senator charged Wednesday.

Brandishing a 45-page January 2011 US Department of Defense report on the issue, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders called for "far more vigorous enforcement" by the US military "to protect taxpayers from massive fraud."
Sanders underlined that the report, which his office made public, showed that from 2007-2009 the Pentagon spent $270 billion on 91 contractors involved in fraud cases that yielded judgments of more than $1 million.

RawStory

Now we find out what the GOP wants to cut from this year’s budget to make up for the “deficit” foisted on us by Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and needless wars

House GOP Spending Cuts: The List
Rep. Hal Rogers, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, unveiled a list of 70 spending cuts to be included in the spending bill to fund the federal government for the seven months remaining in fiscal 2011. Mr. Rogers said other cuts will be released when the bill is formally introduced Thursday.

“Make no mistake, these cuts are not low-hanging fruit,” the Kentucky Republican said in the statement. “These cuts are real and will impact every District across the country - including my own. “

It’s difficult to determine the actual level of cuts from current federal government funding levels since the cuts are proposed against President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget request, which was never taken up by Congress.

The List of 70 Spending Cuts to be Included in the CR follows:

• Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies -$30M
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy -$899M
• Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability -$49M
• Nuclear Energy -$169M
• Fossil Energy Research -$31M
• Clean Coal Technology -$18M
• Strategic Petroleum Reserve -$15M
• Energy Information Administration -$34M
• Office of Science -$1.1B
• Power Marketing Administrations -$52M
• Department of Treasury -$268M
• Internal Revenue Service -$593M
• Treasury Forfeiture Fund -$338M
• GSA Federal Buildings Fund -$1.7B
• ONDCP -$69M
• International Trade Administration -$93M
• Economic Development Assistance -$16M
• Minority Business Development Agency -$2M
• National Institute of Standards and Technology -$186M
• NOAA -$336M
• National Drug Intelligence Center -$11M
• Law Enforcement Wireless Communications -$52M
• US Marshals Service -$10M
• FBI -$74M
• State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance -$256M
• Juvenile Justice -$2.3M
• COPS -$600M
• NASA -$379M
• NSF -$139M
• Legal Services Corporation -$75M
• EPA -$1.6B
• Food Safety and Inspection Services -$53M
• Farm Service Agency -$201M
• Agriculture Research -$246M
• Natural Resource Conservation Service -$46M
• Rural Development Programs -$237M
• WIC -$758M
• International Food Aid grants -$544M
• FDA -$220M
• Land and Water Conservation Fund -$348M
• National Archives and Record Service -$20M
• DOE Loan Guarantee Authority -$1.4B
• EPA ENERGY STAR -$7.4M
• EPA GHG Reporting Registry -$9M
• USGS -$27M
• EPA Cap and Trade Technical Assistance -$5M
• EPA State and Local Air Quality Management -$25M
• Fish and Wildlife Service -$72M
• Smithsonian -$7.3M
• National Park Service -$51M
• Clean Water State Revolving Fund -$700M
• Drinking Water State Revolving Fund -$250M
• EPA Brownfields -$48M
• Forest Service -$38M
• National Endowment for the Arts -$6M
• National Endowment for the Humanities -$6M
• Job Training Programs -$2B
• Community Health Centers -$1.3B
• Maternal and Child Health Block Grants -$210M
• Family Planning -$327M
• Poison Control Centers -$27M
• CDC -$755M
• NIH -$1B
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services -$96M
• LIHEAP Contingency fund -$400M
• Community Services Block Grant -$405M
• High Speed Rail -$1B
• FAA Next Gen -$234M
• Amtrak -$224M
• HUD Community Development Fund -$530M

WSJ

I did a quick add of these cuts (anyone want to verify?) and came up with $21,031,000,000. That is only 7.38% of what the defense contractors swindled from us.

Instead of cutting from beneficial programs like high-speed rail, NIH, FDA, energy efficiency and renewable energy, EPA, and the like, why not go after the criminals who ripped us off?

Make them pay down the deficit that they helped create with their nefarious activity! :grr:

[msongs]

1. because they own our politicians from bottom to the very uppermost top? nt

[DCKit]

4. +1

Send 'em to prison, and seize their worldly assets.

[rasputin1952]

2. That list is a Teabgger's wet dream...

NPR reporting that for the first time, ever, SS is officially in the red as of today...with no plans at all, of redeeming the bonds they used when they stole the money from the fund in the first place.

I don't care if they are R's or D's, the people that were behind this have looted the Treasury...and the Teabaggers have now, no where to go for their retirement, basically...all of the money they put in for all of those years has been stolen...icing on the cake, so to speak.

[Angry Dragon]

3. I think if they default on the bonds that SS holds

they have to default on all the Treasury Bonds
I don't think they can pick and choose

[rasputin1952]

8. I think that is correct...

but I have to research that...just to add sprinkles to the icing, and maybe a candle...that means that everyone we owe money to because of treasury Bonds, cannot collect if they default.

All of those, all over the world, would become worthless...sure we'll make a lot of friends out of that.

[Hannah Bell]

6. What do they mean by for the first time ever officially in the red?

[rasputin1952]

7. They, as of today, are paying out more than they are taking in...

there was never a "lockbox", the money was "loaned" to the government, for bonds, which there is no money to pay for. The books don't balance anymore...it's downhill from here unless the government makes good on it's payments for the bonds. In a nutshell...the money does not exist.

[Hannah Bell]

11. oh, bullshit.

[rasputin1952]

12. It was backed by special T-bonds...

w/o a way to bring in cash, the system, like any other that pays out more than it takes in, will eventually bottom out.

There will have to be an increase somewhere, just to pay off the existing T-bods. Without an influx of cash, the only way is down.

[Hannah Bell]

13. you don't know what you're talking about.

[rasputin1952]

14. I'm talking about what was on NPR...

look it up yourself.

[Hannah Bell]

15. they don't know what they're talking about either. it's a bunch of propaganda to herd people

into doing what the ruling class wants.

[rasputin1952]

17. Take it up w/NPR...

this is what they had on the radio...I'm putting in what I heard and some comments on it.

[Hannah Bell]

18. do you always believe whatever you hear on the radio?

do you think national corporate radio is some kind of reliable source for economic info?

[rasputin1952]

19. Well, I'd say they are probably better than you...

you asked a question, I answered, and you said, "bullshit".

While this may be debunked, it won't be by you. I know of no expertise you might have in this matter, nor have you offered a counter POV; although I've already heard two on the news so far, and read several other threads that this subject has been addressed. All you did was come in and drop a couple of lines that said nothing other than post a few rather vacuous responses.

[Hannah Bell]

20. you didn't ask a question, and i didn't say "bullshit" to any question.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=381745&mesg_id=382043

i said bullshit to your post, which stated certain things were facts.

they aren't facts.

"there was never a "lockbox", the money was "loaned" to the government,"

the money was loaned to the government because that's what the original social security legislation mandated: that all excess SS taxes collected *should* be borrowed into the general fund in exchange for US securities.

"for bonds, which there is no money to pay for."

there's not? our creditors will be interested to hear that. But in fact:

Bush tax cuts that benefited the top one percent in just 2008 alone
totaled $79.5 billion, which is “more than the entire
budget for the Department of Education this year ($68
billion), almost twice as much as the entire budget for
the Department of Homeland Security this year ($42.3
billion) and over ten times as much as the budget for
the Environmental Protection Agency ($7.5 billion).” 9

$79 billion x 30 pays off the majority of the trust fund within the boomers' retirement years.

"The books don't balance anymore...it's downhill from here unless the government makes good on it's payments for the bonds. In a nutshell...the money does not exist."

as i said before, you don't know what you're talking about.

[rasputin1952]

21. Please reread the previous post...

it says you asked a question (to post #2), and you answered me (post #11) with "bullshit". The sub-thread deteriorated from that point on.

Edited to renummerate posts in question.

[Hannah Bell]

22. please reread mine above.

[rasputin1952]

23. Sorry HB, at this point...

you are just wasting my time.

[Hannah Bell]

24. doesn't mean npr's report isn't pure bullshit and propaganda.

[unblock]

5. who do you think congress represents, the PEOPLE?!

:rofl:

[KansDem]

9. Yeah, I know...I'm naive...

But you are right, now that corporations are "people!" :silly:

[cutlassmama]

10. K&R, we should insist on it

[Initech]

16. Yes!!! Take down the corporate criminal scumfucks!!!