A scholar playing World of Warcraft, a gangster raking in Medicare funds, and archivists preserving the history of the Grateful Dead were among the Californians highlighted in one senator’s annual project enumerating examples of wasteful, excessive and silly government spending.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., released the report highlighting millions in spending that his office deems outrageous, like a $900,000 government payout to protect a Pennsylvania authority accused of sexual harassment.
The report's introduction emphasizes that this type of spending is particularly troubling as the nation grapples with massive debt and just last year spent a trillion more than it brought in.
The report calls into question items that might be better funded by trade or industry groups, such as promoting wine overseas and in Monterey County. Yet others point to gaping holes in government oversight.
One such problem is the “pay and chase” nature of the Medicare system. To ensure access to care, the government pays Medicare contractors first and asks questions later.
That payment policy has its flaws, as is evident in the report's description of gang-orchestrated Medicare fraud in Southern California. (We wrote about the alleged scheme and its implications several months ago.)
From the Coburn report:
Medicare paid out over $35 million to a vast network of 118 – phantom medical clinics, allegedly established by members of a criminal gang to submit phony reimbursement claims.
The clinics never existed anywhere but in paperwork. Prosecutors say the gang used stolen identities for dozens of doctors and over 2,000 patients to file over $100 million worth of phony claims via these clinics.
Medicare honored over a third of the fake claims, making payments for several months before the ruse was discovered. Since making dozens of arrests in October, federal officials have scrambled to recover the funds, seizing a Maserati, a Jaguar, and property in Las Vegas and Palm Springs, Calif.
The report also found fault with research and archiving activities at University of California campuses, including:
- A $216,884 UC Berkeley and Stanford study about why political candidates make vague statements.
- A $615,000 project at UC Santa Cruz to archive Grateful Dead memorabilia. Coburn’s report notes that the project benefits musicians Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh, whose net worth is estimated at more than $35 million.
Additionally, the report notes that a UC Irvine professor got about $100,000 to study the computer game World of Warcraft and published some findings in a book called "My Life as a Night Elf Priest." That professor and colleagues got an additional $3 million to study "decentralized virtual activity systems."
The report also highlights spending around the country that the authors deem wasteful:
Office for Retired Speakers of the House of Representatives - $440,955.87
The Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert receives nearly half-a-million dollars every year from taxpayers for an office he rarely visits.440 The allowance pays for a fully furnished office, staff, franked mail, phone bills, cable, and payments to lease a car. According to one news report, the former Speaker rarely visits the office and his three staff members each earn over $100,000.
Quietly Settling Sexual Harassment Claims Against Housing Chief - (Philadelphia, PA) $900,000
The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) paid out $900,000 in confidential, out-of-court settlements to four female plaintiffs who filed sexual harassment suits against its director.The office oversees public housing for the city of Philadelphia, but nearly all of its $345 million annual budget is paid by using federal funds.The director, Carl Greene, has since been fired.
A lawyer for one claimant, PHA architect Elizabeth Helm, said Greene told her a promotion was – ”contingent on a quid pro quo based on her succumbing to his unwanted sexual advances.” The lawyer said Green told Helm, – ”I know you don‘t want to kiss me,” before grabbing her and kissing her.
Comments
via Twitter