THE BILL OF WRONGS...

OR.... why the government must never be allowed to take over our health care system
I

The USPS recorded a loss of $2.8 billion for fiscal year 2008. Its debt increased by $3 billion by the end of the year to $7.2 billion. [SOURCE: GAO, 1/28/2009  http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-332T ] The US Postal Service was established in 1775. (The biggest problems with the USPS are private competition, unionized workers, and lobbyists) The government has had 234 years to get it right and it is broken.

II

Social Security expenditures are expected to exceed tax receipts this year for the first time since 1983. The projected deficit of $41 billion this year. Social Security was established in 1935. The government has had 74 years to get it right and it is broken. [SOURCE: SOCIAL SECURITY ONLINE, 2010 ANNUAL REPORT  http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/index.html ]

III

The rescue of the mortgage giants (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), which has helped keep the housing market alive amid economic crisis and recession, already has a price tag of $135 BILLION. [SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST, 10/22/2010 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/21/AR2010102101941.html ]

IV

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae announced a QUARTERLY LOSS for the first three months of 2010 of $11.5 BILLION and is seeking $8.4 BILLION more in federal aid. [SOURCE: CSM 5/10/2010   //http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2010/0510/Fannie-Mae-wants-8.4-billion-more-in-federal-aid ] Fannie Mae was established in 1938. The government has had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.

V

Freddie Mac reported that it lost $4.1 BILLION in the third quarter of 2010, and said it needed $100 million in new federal support. [SOURCE: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/freddie_mac/index.html?inline=nyt-org ] Freddie Mac was established in 1970. The government has had 39 years to get it right and it is broken.

VI

War on Poverty started in 1964. It has cost $8 TRILLION so far and poverty is greater now than ever. [SOURCE: HUBPAGES http://hubpages.com/hub/War-on-Poverty-has-cost-8-trillion-dollar-and-poverty-is-greater-now-than-ever ] The government has had 45 years to get it right; $1 TRILLION of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more. [See also   http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/09/obama-to-spend-103-trillion-on-welfare-uncovering-the-full-cost-of-means-tested-welfare-or-aid-to-the-poor ]

VII

The costs of Medicare doubled every four years between 1966 and 1980 Total MEDICARE spending reached $440 billion for fiscal year 2007 or 16% of all federal spending and grew to $599 billion in 2008 which was 20% of federal spending. [SOURCE:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States) ] The only larger categories of federal spending are Social Security and defense. Medicare was established in 1965. The government has had 44 years to get it right and they are broke. [This does not include Medicaid, which is paid for by the federal government AND the states. Much of the costs of Medicaid have been shifted to the SCHIP program.]

VIII

The Department of Energy was created in 1977 by Jimmy Carter to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 BILLION a year. As part of the $789 billion economic stimulus package in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress provided Energy with an additional $38.3 BILLION for fiscal years 2009 and 2010, adding about 75 percent to Energy's annual budgets. [SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energy ] We import more oil than ever before. The government has had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

IX

AMTRAK is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States [SOURCE:   http://archive.gao.gov/d13t3/129743.pdf  document contents redacted] In 2008 the federal government spent about $1.4 billion on Amtrak. The Pew Charitable Trusts SubsidyScope Project has just released (10/27/2009) a new report that finds 41 out of Amtrak's 44 routes lose money. The losses ranged from nearly $5 to $462 per passenger, depending upon the line, and averaged $32 per passenger. Nothing succeeds in DC like repeated and costly failure. The Obama administration put $13 BILLION for building various new high-speed rail lines in its $787 billion dollar stimulus package. The government has had 32 years to get it right and it is a failure.

X

The Department of Education was created by Jimmy Carter on October 17, 1979. It was made a separate department by dividing HEW (Health, Education and Welfare) into DoED and HHS. For 2006, the ED discretionary budget was US$56 billion and the mandatory budget contained $23.4 billion. Currently, the budget is $68.6 BILLION. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development places the United States 18th among the 36 nations examined. [SOURCE:  http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/19/US-slipping-in-education-rankings/UPI-90221227104776/ ] In the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment 2003, 15 year olds ranked 24th of 38 in mathematics, 19th of 38 in science, 12th of 38 in reading, and 26th of 38 in problem solving. In the 2006 assessment, the U.S. ranked 35th out of 57 in mathematics and 29th out of 57 in science. [SOURCE:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment ] The government has had 32 years to get it right and the performance of our children is getting worse instead of better.