Please disable your Ad Blocker to better interact with this website.

Jannah Theme License is not validated, Go to the theme options page to validate the license, You need a single license for each domain name.
Commentaries

Commentary: Trillions in Taxpayer Money Wasted Due to Year-End Spending Spree

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

Commentary by Adam Andrzejewski originally published by RealClearPolicy.com

Every year, federal agencies see the end of the fiscal year coming and embark on a spending spree to use the last of their congressionally-allocated funding.

While they have no real reason to spend the money, they do so in fear that leaving part of their budget unspent will mean less money from Congress next year.

This “use-it-or-lose-it year-end spending,” happens every year and since 2019, Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican and longtime opponent of Washington D.C.’s wasteful spending culture, has proposed capping agency spending for the last two months at the same rate of spending as during the first 10 months.

Had her proposal been implemented this year, at least $1 trillion in taxpayer money could have been saved.

Ernst’s argument is common sense: agencies should spend taxpayer dollars appropriately, and if they don’t need every penny, they should spend less this year and receive less next year.

Instead, agencies see the new fiscal year looming and flush taxpayer money down the drain.

For example, Congress gave the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services $2.8 trillion in fiscal year 2021. HHS spent $1.8 trillion over the first 10 months — an average of $180 billion monthly — and still had $1 trillion left to spend in the final two months.

If capped under Ernst’s plan, the agency could only spend $360 billion more over the final two months and potentially give back $640 billion of taxpayer money.

It’s a solid, common-sense proposal, and one that Democrats and Republicans alike should be able to get behind as a way to benefit the taxpayers they represent.
______________________

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

Deneen Borelli

Deneen Borelli is the author of Blacklash: How Obama and the Left are Driving Americans to the Government Plantation. Deneen is a contributor with Newsmax Broadcasting. She is a former Fox News contributor and has appeared regularly on “Hannity,” “Fox & Friends,” “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” and “America’s Newsroom.” She has also appeared on Fox Business Network programs “Making Money with Charles Payne,” “The Evening Edit with Liz MacDonald,” and “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.” Previously, Deneen appeared on MSNBC, CNN, the BBC and C-SPAN. In addition to television, Deneen co-hosted radio programs on the SiriusXM Patriot channel with her husband Tom. Recently, Deneen co-hosted the Reigniting Liberty podcast with Tom. Deneen is a frequent speaker at political events, including the FreedomWorks 9.12.2009 March on D.C. which drew a crowd estimated at over 800,000 people. Deneen is also an Ambassador with CloutHub.com, a social media platform that promotes free speech, and with the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) which advances policies that put Americans first. Deneen testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources in May 2011 and before the Ohio House Public Utilities Committee in December 2011. Previously, Deneen was a BlazeTV.com host, Outreach Director with FreedomWorks.org overseeing its Empower.org outreach program, a Project 21 Senior Fellow, and Manager of Media Relations with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Prior to joining CORE, Deneen worked at Philip Morris USA for 20 years. During her corporate career at Philip Morris she worked in various positions, her last as Project Management Coordinator in the Information Management department where she was responsible for the department’s mandated quality processes, communications, sales information and database management. Deneen began her Philip Morris career as a secretary and advanced to positions of increasing responsibilities. Deneen worked full-time and attended classes at night for 11 years to earn her B.A. in Managerial Marketing from Pace University, New York City. Deneen served on the Board of Trustees with The Opportunity Charter School in Harlem, New York. She appeared in educational videos for children, worked as a runway fashion model, and auditioned for television commercials. Her interests include ancient history, pistol target shooting, photography, and volunteering at her church. Deneen currently resides in Connecticut with her husband Tom.

Related Articles