The HUD Inspector General’s Office released an audit earlier this week on the department’s progress in making sure local public housing agencies aren’t subsidizing the deceased. According to the report, local “agencies made an estimated $15.2 million in payments on behalf of deceased tenants that they should have identified and corrected.”
Downsizing Blog
FHA Woes Continue
Over the past decade, the Federal Housing Administration has been insuring riskier mortgages in an attempt to regain “market share” lost to private competitors during the housing boom. But after the housing bubble burst and private firms either went out of business or reduced their risk profile, the FHA continued to plow ahead insuring risky mortgages. This could all backfire on taxpayers.
High-Speed Money Grab
The New York Times reports on the internecine fighting among high-speed rail lobbyists. At stake is $8 billion in stimulus money that the Obama administration views as a down payment on a nationwide high-speed rail network. As the Times notes, “Nothing stirs passions for a massive public-works project like a wad of federal cash.”
Boeing's Government Bank
The Pew Charity Trust’s Subsidyscope website just released a report on the Export-Import Bank, which is a government agency that helps finance U.S. exports through loans and loan guarantees. As it turns out, Boeing is hands down Ex-Im’s biggest beneficiary.
Government of Continual Failure
The Washington Post is full of so many stories about government failure these days, it’s hard to keep up.
Today, on page A19 we learn about a Small Business Administration subsidy program that has a 60-percent default rate. On the same page, we learn that the U.S. Postal Service will lose $7 billion this year.
More Cost Overruns at Defense
Benjamin Franklin said: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” I would add a third certainty: cost overruns at the Pentagon. The Government Accountability Office recently reported that the Pentagon’s space program is facing multi-billion dollar cost overruns and multi-year delays.
Central Planning at Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded $2.4 billion in stimulus money to develop and manufacture electric vehicles. The ostensible purpose of the government’s effort is to set the nation on a path toward more environmentally friendly transportation. But as the USA Today notes, electric cars might not provide the environmental benefits that proponents cite:
Chicago's Housing Subsidy Debacle
I haven’t followed the controversies surrounding Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to President Obama. However, her tenure as the CEO of a company that received federal money to run a public housing project deserves further scrutiny.
Neutering the Spenders
The Washington Examiner reports on projects funded by the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year that most taxpayers will find either dubious or objectionable.
Public Dollars for Private Profits
The federal government is running $1 trillion deficits, but that hasn’t slowed down the government’s corporate welfare gravy train. As a microcosm of the business subsidy problem, I happened to notice in an Ohio newspaper that the U.S. Department of Commerce is footing the bill for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber to fund a 16-day junket to China and Taiwan.