"We Don't Know What We're Doing"

Says Tom Coburn, referring to our illustrious senate.  Coburn is a republican senator from Oklahoma, and he's talking about our runaway spending.  The GAO is about to release a report pointing the finger directly at our elected politicians, and outlining billions of dollars of duplication and waste.

"Go study that (report). It will show why we're $14 trillion in debt," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. "Anybody that says we don't look like fools up here hasn't read the report."

Well, I can't argue with that one.   The GAO has dug up all kinds of finincial boondoggles, but this one was chilling:

Even more scathing is the duplication investigators found in the nation's biodefense efforts, with the report essentially saying that the billions of dollars spent annually is the responsibility of no one individual and that there is no plan for post-attack coordination, this on the heels of a 2010 federal commission finding that gave the U.S. a "failing grade" in its prevention measures.

"There are now more than two dozen presidentially appointed individuals with some responsibility for biodefense. In addition, numerous federal agencies, encompassing much of the federal government, have some mission responsibilities for supporting biodefense activities. However, there is no individual or entity with responsibility, authority, and accountability for overseeing the entire biodefense enterprise," the report finds.

"There is no national plan to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts following a bioterror attack, and the United States lacks the technical and operational capabilities required for an adequate response," the report goes on. "Neither the Office of Management and Budget nor the federal agencies account for biodefense spending across the entire federal government." As a result, the federal government does not know how much is being spent on this critical national security priority."

Reading that is like running an ice cube up my spine.  This is beyond throwing billions of our tax dollars into the wind; this kind of utter incompetence could have dire ramifications.

There are many other examples of potential waste found across the yawning federal bureaucracy, with GAO concluding, "Considering the amount of program dollars involved in the issues we have identified, even limited adjustments could result in significant savings."

Even limited adjustments will mean laying off union workers.  Is that allowed, or will we have more mobs congregating to shut down the process?  After the meltdown in Wisconsin, I think it's a legitimate concern.  Stay tuned!