Straight Talk with Sam: Finding Government Waste, Fraud and Abuse

STRAIGHT TALK WITH SAM
Volume 5, Issue 4 January 24, 2005
Finding Government Waste, Fraud and Abuse

Our 41st President, Ronald Reagan, once observed that the nearest thing to eternal life that we will ever see is a government program. What Reagan knew was that it is much more difficult to end a government program than it is to start one. It often appears that there is a government program for every problem, whether it is real or imagined.
Some in Washington seem to believe that government money is free money. Unfortunately that is not the case; government programs are paid for by you and me. While there are worthwhile government programs, I believe that there are many that have outlived their usefulness.

Once again I will be chairing the Small Business Sub-Committee on Rural Enterprises, Agriculture and Technology. This is a committee that has broad jurisdiction to look into the effectiveness of many government programs. I intend to use this post as a way to root out government waste, fraud and abuse.

In the last Congress, my sub-committee looked at how federal regulations affected small businesses and commerce. Some of those issues we looked at were politically unpopular and others warned me to avoid those issues. I am not going to do that. I want to confront these problems head on.

I think that in order to keep our spending in check we ought to examine all federal programs. Ending outdated and unnecessary government programs is one way to save your money. I look forward to using my sub-committee as a platform for rooting out Government waste, fraud and abuse.

http://www.house.gov/graves/straighttalk/2005issue4.htm