Today we will not be discussing the merits and downsides of such a program. Tomorrow we will do that, showing once again how this President continues to come up with bad, non-strategic ideas that just end up wasting taxpayer wealth (see: Solyndra, A123, and dozens of other failed alternative energy efforts that burned through tens of billions of dollars for nothing in return, Cash For Clunkers that was actually a money loser for car companies, etc.).
Today we will focus again on our long held premise that no American, rich or poor, should pay one penny more in taxes until the Washington political class and this Presidential administration stop wasting hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of taxpayer dollars every year. This wasteful spending could be used for so much more good, including returning it to taxpayers, if not for the incompetence of the Washington political class.
As a point of reference as we go through, again, the many ways Washington wastes our money, the Obama administration has estimated that giving millions of Americans free community college educations would cost about $60 billion over ten years. Again, tomorrow we will discuss how this $60 billion idea is just another bad Obama Presidency idea.
Where could the Federal government, though, find $60 billion to pay for this free education program WITHOUT raising taxes:
1) One our most popular posts of all time discussed the disgraceful abuse of taxpayer money when the Navy built two ships almost to completion, at a cost of $300 million, and then decided that they were not needed. The Navy then spent another $10 million to turn the recently built ships into scrap metal. Just this single $310 million waste could have paid for almost 5.2% of Obama's community college idea.
That popular post can be accessed at:
http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2011/07/us-navy-ships-for-sale-cheap-never-used.html
2) We also reported previously that the State Department had spent $40 million on a consulate building in Afghanistan and THEN discovered that it would be able to withstand a terrorist attack. Thus, the building had to be abandoned after spending the $40 million. Combining this wasteful spending with the Navy ship example and just these two disasters could have funded almost 6% of the community college idea.
3) Obama commissioned a big study early in his Presidency to find logical and sane ways to reduce his own administration's out of control deficit spending. After a long and detailed study and analysis, the commission came out with its detailed recommendations, all of which were promptly ignored by this President even though he commissioned the study.
One major component of the study was the conclusion that $100 billion dollars could easily be taken out of the annual Pentagon budget without harming our national security. We have covered many stories that dramatically show how much waste and criminal fraud exists within the Pentagon operations so $100 billion is a very attainable goal.
Thus, if Obama had taken his own commission's advice, he could have easily paid for his ten year's worth ($60 billion) of his community college idea with ONE year's savings from Pentagon spending.
4) Staying with the Pentagon, we recently reported on a news report that found that the Pentagon on invested $46 billion in weapons systems that never saw the light of day. One would have hope that the viability or non-viability of a weapons systems would be known well before a whopping $46 billion was spent for nothing in return.
Even if only half of the $46 billion could have been saved by better management, that single action, that $23 billion could have paid for more than 38% of the community college idea without raising taxes.
5) Every Federal government agency wastes tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars every year on downright stupid projects. These programs benefit no one except the people that get the Federal grant money to pursue their silly and near useless ideas. These inane ideas and expenditures include, but are certainly not limited, to the following real projects that taxpayer money has been spent on:
- A study to estimate when dogs became man's best friend.
- Development of a video game that simulated prom week.
- The State Department spent money on pottery lessons in Morocco.
- The Federal government spent $80,000 to study why the same college basketball teams usually ended up in the thick of March Madness.
- It spent $1 million for analysis of how quickly parents respond to trendy baby names.
- It spent $581,000 on whether online dating sites are racist.
- It wasted $2 million to figure out that people who often post pictures on the Internet from the same location at the same time are usually friends.
- The National Science Foundation spent almost $385,000 of taxpayer wealth to study "Sexual Conflict, Social Behavior, and the Evolution of Waterfowl Genitalia."
- The IRS spent $60,000 on a film parody of "Star Trek" and a film parody of "Gilligan's Island."
6) A recent article in the National Review reported that on average, every Fortune 100 company, some of the biggest companies int he world, receive $200 million a year from the Washington political class,courtesy of the American taxpayer. This comes out to about $20 billion a year. If Obama cut this off for just three years, he could fund his community college idea for ten years.
Some of the bigger recipients of taxpayer money include General Electric ($380 million), General Motors, ($370 million), and Boeing ($264 million). If Obama is so serious about his community college idea, make these companies' shareholders pay for company operations, not the American taxpayer via increasing taxes on any American.
7) And finally, consider an analysis recently published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. According to their report, using the Federal government's own data and information:
- In fiscal year 2013, the Federal government improperly paid out $106 billion across 13 government programs.
- While outright criminal fraud was major factor in this wasting of taxpayer wealth, other factors including clerical errors, complexity of rules, and failure to confirm eligibility were also factors that could be corrected.
- This waste is equivalent to over $900 a year for every American household.
- Fixing 56% of this waste in just ONE YEAR could pay for the first TEN YEARS of Obama's community college idea.
The detailed analysis by wasteful government programs follow (double click on the graph for a larger view):
Such a disgrace, embarrassment, and insult to hard working, taxpaying Americans. Even worse, this list does not include the main Social Security program for retirees. Reputable sources we have cited in this blog put the wasteful and criminal fraud of that program at over $100 billion a year also, more than enough to fund the community college idea for well over ten years.
No American, rich or poor, should pay another penny in taxes, when these wasteful actions continue under this Presidential administration and Washington political class. Just like an American household, if you want something you cannot afford, economize your spending somewhere else. And in this wasteful government bureaucracy, the ability to economize is seemingly endless and easy to do.
Just because the Federal government could find the ways and means to pay for this $60 billion idea by tightening up its spending, does not mean it should. Tomorrow will be the discussion on why this is just another silly, free floating, non-strategic tactical plan from this President who has shown no ability to think strategically or to operate efficiently.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
www.loathemygovernment.com
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
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