One of Washington’s biggest lies about federal spending will be endlessly repeated in coming weeks by President Obama, congressional Democrats, special interest advocates and the liberal mainstream media. The myth is that the federal budget really cannot be cut except on the margins because government programs are managed efficiently, with minimal waste, fraud and abuse, and they deliver essential services that cannot be provided any other way. Two reports focusing on federal job training programs — one from the Government Accountability Office and the other from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. — that were made public Wednesday put the lie to such claims. Nine federal agencies simultaneously operated at least 47 work force training programs at a cost of $18 billion in 2009. That total represented a $5 billion increase since 2003, thanks to added funding from Obama’s economic stimulus program. Here are some examples from among many Coburn cited on how those tax dollars were spent:

» Grants to an admitted thief: In West Virginia, Martin Bowling — an admitted thief with a long rap sheet — was the main beneficiary of a $100,000 federal worker training grant, and was put up for another federal job training grant worth $1 million by his mother, a state official at the time.