
<p>One of the primary reasons we conservatives oppose the expansion of government services is the propensity to incur excessive charges, reckless waste and every kind of fraud. It is a problem of epic proportions. You can be certain that anytime government is involved, it will be needlessly expensive – and the larger and more distant the government is from the taxpayers, the worse the problem will be.</p>



<p>But no matter. Democrats and the left-wing establishment will always proffer for an endless expansion of government – especially at the federal level. Historically, Democrats have been the party of big &#8230; as in colossal &#8230; government. While Republicans have too often been fellow travelers, they do show a greater devotion to fiscal responsibility.</p>



<p>The problem goes back to President Roosevelt’s New Deal – which was proliferating federal government agencies and programs like free-range rabbits. Consequently, the United States has a federal government that is simply not sustainable – and we have large annual budget deficits and a humongous National Debt to prove it.  ;Unfortunately, the tendency to assume more power and greater cost is not limited to the federal government. States and municipalities play the same game. ; Consequently, the American taxpayer is increasingly burdened with unsupervised costs, waste and fraud.</p>



<p><strong>Government Efficiency.</strong></p>



<p>The big government devotees often argue that government is more efficient because there is no need to produce a profit. ; BUT (ß a very big but), government is shown time and time again to incur costs far exceeding the private sector. The proverbial $600 toilet seat is symbolic of the problem – and the problem is greater and more damaging than ever.  ;“Government efficiency” is an oxymoron.</p>



<p>If you need an example of the comparative efficiency between government and the private sector, look at NASA and SpaceX. NASA, once the pinnacle of American achievement, became a bloated bureaucracy plagued by delays and cost overruns. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s company developed reusable rockets at a fraction of the cost and with far greater reliability. ; It is Musk, not NASA, who has been sending astronauts into space – and even rescuing them.</p>



<p>Quite simply put, government cannot – by its very nature – operate as responsibly or efficiently as the private sector &#8230; period.  ;That is not a theory. It is an established fact.  ;And the evidence is not hidden in dusty archives. It is in the headlines every week. ; The only reason governments can be so fiscally irresponsible is because they can force taxpayers to fill the coffers &#8230; or borrow from foreign nations. ;</p>



<p>Here are a few recent examples of government’s inability to serve as a custodian of the public treasury.</p>



<p><strong>Minnesota’s MegaâFraud</strong></p>



<p>Consider the ongoing Minnesota scandal, which federal prosecutors have described as “industrial-scale fraud” in Medicaid and related social service programs. Investigators estimate that as much as half of the $18 billion billed by fourteen highârisk Medicaid programs since 2018 may be fraudulent. That is not a rounding error.</p>



<p>That is not a few bad actors. That is a systemic failure of oversight, accountability and basic competence. The fraud was so easy, according to prosecutors, that criminals from other states traveled to Minnesota specifically to cash in on what they saw as “easy money. When a state becomes a destination for fraud tourism, something is profoundly broken.</p>



<p>And it is not just Medicaid. Minnesota has also been rocked by a massive foodâaid scandal in which more than ninety people have been charged with stealing hundreds of millions of dollars intended to feed children.  ;Federal officials have warned that Minnesota’s financial management is so lacking that Uncle Sam may cut off the state’s federal Medicaid funding unless it cleans up its act.</p>



<p><strong>Massachusetts SNAP scam</strong></p>



<p>Then there is Massachusetts, where two Boston convenience store owners were charged with orchestrating a $7 million scheme to traffic Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Their tiny storefront – described by investigators as “effectively a closet with shelves and a register” – somehow processed up to half a million dollars in SNAP redemptions per month.  ;It had gone on for years &#8212; undetected by the bureaucrats who are supposedly safeguarding taxpayer dollars. ; These are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a government that has grown too large, too distant and too insulated from the consequences of its own incompetence.</p>



<p>According to official data, Medicare and Medicaid fraud costs taxpayers more than $146 billion annually. ; ; ; Fraudsters bill for services never provided, perform unnecessary tests, or simply invent patients out of thin air. The programs are so sprawling that even the government admits it cannot accurately measure the full extent of improper payments. ; Many claim that the actual figure is many times the $146 billion.</p>



<p><strong>Workman’s Comp</strong></p>



<p>Workman’s compensation programs are no better. The U.S. Postal Service’s Inspector General has documented case after case of employees claiming debilitating injuries while secretly working other jobs or engaging in physical activities that would make an Olympic gymnast blush. ;  ;By way of example, man exaggerated his injuries so dramatically that he was ordered to repay more than $130,000 in fraudulent claims. ; A postal worker claimed she could barely walk yet was caught on video performing athletic feats that would make a personal trainer sweat. ; These cases are exceptional in that they are among the very few who get caught.</p>



<p><strong>Social Security</strong></p>



<p>Even Social Security – the sacred cow of American politics – is riddled with fraud. A former Social Security Administration employee in Texas pleaded guilty to stealing the identities of deceased men and using them to file fraudulent survivor benefit claims &#8212; siphoning off millions of dollars. In Minnesota (again), a woman impersonated her dead mother for twentyâfive years to collect more than $360,000 in benefits. These are not victimless crimes. They drain funds from programs that millions of Americans rely upon.</p>



<p>And yet, every time conservatives call for reform, the left accuses them of cruelty, heartlessness or wanting to “throw grandma off a cliff.” The truth is that conservatives want these programs to function properly, efficiently and honestly. What we oppose is the blind expansion of government without proper supervision and accountability.</p>



<p><strong>Our Founders Would Be Appalled</strong></p>



<p>America’s Founders understood the dangers of centralized power. That is why the Tenth Amendment explicitly limits the federal government to the powers enumerated in the Constitution. Everything else is reserved to the states or the people. But Washington has spent the last century ignoring that part of the Constitution, expanding its reach into every corner of American life. The result is a federal bureaucracy so bloated that no one can control it, much less oversee it.</p>



<p>The lesson is clear: the larger government becomes, the more waste, fraud and abuse it produces. Bureaucracies do not shrink themselves. They do not police themselves. They do not innovate. They expand, consume and demand more resources. And the taxpayer is left holding the bill.</p>



<p>The Founders did not intend government to run every aspect of American life. They designed a limited republic, with power dispersed and checked. They believed – correctly – that the private sector, civil society and local communities were better suited to solve most problems. They feared the very leviathan that Washington has become.</p>



<p>If America is to remain prosperous and free, it must return to those principles. It must rein in federal power, restore state authority and demand accountability from every government agency. It must recognize that every dollar wasted on fraud is a dollar stolen from hardworking citizens.</p>



<p>The evidence is overwhelming. Fraud is undeniable. The waste is catastrophic. And the solution is the same one the Founders gave us more than two centuries ago &#8212; limited government, local control and a healthy skepticism of centralized power. ; There is only one way to prevent a future economic catastrophe – and that is to significantly reduce the size and cost of government before it is too late. ;</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Government is Never Frugal, Efficient or Responsible with money
