Identification of Wasteful Government Expenditures

• More Government Waste -- To reduce the debt stop the subides to:
  1. the ranching industry $250,000,000.,
  2. the timber industry $475,000,000., and
  3. the minning industry $1,000 million dollars per year. -- Hmason sunnyherb@cybertrails

• Costly Military Bands -- Military bands provide no useful ability to conduct the military mission. There are about 400 of them at the last time I saw an estimate. Generally the assignment to a military band is permanent for the career of a soldier. In fact they deter from the mission in that band members often obtain promotions deserved by the supervisor that is working in an assignment with out the grade that assignment calls for.

  It therefore hampers that supervisor in doing his job and also causes inferior supervisors to rise to the top and sit on an effective military member keeping them from doing the best possible job. I served over 26 years of active military duty and most of that time in a job calling for rank several grades higher than I held. Several times I was put under a senior supervisor that did not know the first thing about the job at hand. I then had to perform his job and my own as well.

  400 bands of only ten members each would cost in excess of $100,000,000 per year for wages alone, not to speak of transportation, uniforms, instruments, perdiem funds and retirement.

  One could also put Air Force One and most of the support for that effort in a waste catagory. Presidents Roosevelt and Truman did a great job without such luxury at the expense of the taxpayer. Trevis Moss -- TrevisM@worldnet.att.net

• Subsidies to the Wealthy -- The worst wastefull expenditures are subsidies for the wealthy. The two I have in mind are the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers maintenance of the intercoastal waterway and U.S. Government subsidies for privately held beachfront property. I have not been able to quantify either of these but they run into millions maybe billions each per year. The taxpayers should not have to support a waterway whose use is over 95% recreational (including tens of thousands of yachts) and reduce the cost of insurance for the millionaires who own most of the beachfront property. jepluv@fia.net

• Defense Budget Bloat -- Military leaders have concluded they don't need more B-2 Bombers and other weapons but the President and congress are insisting they need them -- a real disgrace.
  • The B-2 Bombers -- needed for keep people employed.

• Federal Pot Farm -- U.S. raising marijuana @ $250,000.00 per year cost to us.

• Medicare Fraud -- $6 billion estimated waste, fraud, or abuse on expenditures of $60 billion spent on Medicare Part B benefits which cover physicians, supplier, and other outpatient services.