When Republicans grouse about welfare, fraud is a common theme. Non-poor people getting food stamps that they then use for lobster, dead people collecting Social Security, and able-bodied folks collecting disability are all morally offensive phenomena. And while many folks probably overestimate the rate of such fraud, it exists, because these federal programs are all gigantic, and preventing all fraud is impossible.
The same is true for corporatewelfare, as well. Think about these programs: They give taxpayer money to businessmen who are able to fill out and sign the proper form. Of course bad businessmen are going to try to bilk it — and they often do.
The Export-Import Bank has its share of fraud cases — some of which we know about.
And crop insurance isn’t immune either.Crop insurance is federally supported in a few ways. In the end, the taxpayer ends up subsidizing farmers and their private insurance companies. Last decade some farmers falsely claimed hail damage, and used ice cubes as evidence.
A recentUS Department of Agriculturereport found that the USDA fails to meet federal standards on improper payments.
From the report:
The caveat is that USDA’s sampling methodology to determine this error rate is also out of sync with federal standards. But the Environmental Working Group puts these numbers in perspective, comparing the program to its longtime legislative companion, food stamps:
