Why Pramila Jayapal Got Wrecked Over This Post About the Weather
The Left’s Insurrection Against the Rule of Law
Trump's Press Conference Turned Into an Epic Media Event
John Fetterman's Remarks About the Dem Candidate for NYC Mayor Hit the Bullseye
I Wonder How Long America Has
Turning Trash Into Reliable, Affordable Electricity
The No Kings Farce Rolls On
Trump’s Historic Strike on Iran Proves Peace Through Strength Works
How Low Can Democrats Go?
Is Iran Still Dangerous After Trump Airstrikes? The Answer is a Resounding Yes
France Undermining U.S Strategy in the Middle East
Banning Drug Ads Is a Slippery, Unconstitutional Slope
More Older Americans Are Delaying Retirement And Trying To Get Hired, But Can’t
Congress Is Handing AI Developers a Free Pass to Harm Kids
Tom Homan Explodes While Calling For More ICE Funding
Tipsheet

The Most Wasteful Government Programs

"Waste, fraud, and abuse." It's the most popular target for DC politicians who want to talk about cutting government spending but don't want to actually cut any programs. To a certain extent, it's not a huge problem - waste, fraud, and abuse constitute over $100 billion in improper payments every year, but that's peanuts compared to the federal government's nearly-$4-trillion budget.

Advertisement

Still, the "improper payments" rate is a good way to identify which programs do and don't work well. And while Medicare often gets singled out as a program with lots of fraud, it doesn't lead the pack in terms of how high its improper payment rate is.

This information is courtesy of the Mercatus Center, which has put together details on which programs do and don't have high improper payments. Medicare leads the pack in pure volume, but the Earned Income Tax Credit actually has the highest improper payment rate, at a whopping 24%. Second on the list is (surprisingly) the National School Lunch Program, which is a small program but boasts a 15% improper payment rate:

Medicaid comes off pretty well here, as does SNAP (commonly called food stamps). There are two takeaways: either the programs need more oversight and reform to work better, or programs like these can't work with such high improper payment rates and need to be replaced with programs that do.

The full write-up, from Mercatus, is here.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement