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Vilsack says prevention is key to eliminating waste
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| By: Nathan Treloar |
May 09, 2012 |
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Congressional candidate Christie Vilsack, right, met with members of the local media Tuesday, May 1 in Boone
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Former Iowa First Lady turned Congressional candidate, Christie Vilsack, made a stop in Boone Tuesday to lay out a series of proposals aimed at cutting waste in the federal budget. Vilsack spent an hour discussing her proposals with members of the local media at the Ericson Public Library.
Vilsack touched on four areas notorious for unnecessary and/or fraudulent spending including Medicaid, Medicare Part D, WIC and SNAP programs, and the myriad of contractors used most prevalently by the Pentagon, but also by many other government agencies. Her talking points also included the placement of permanent inspectors general in every federal department.
"In order to create the economic opportunity that Iowans deserve, we must reign in out-of-control spending," said Vilsack in a press release. "That starts by taking the issue of waste, fraud, and abuse seriously."
Wearing a perfectly spring light copper suit, Vilsack glided through her explanation of each proposal with the skill of a seasoned campaigner. She held up a fading dollar bill to symbolize one her mother had given her years ago with the charge, "Waste not, want not." Vilsack referred to the dollar often, noting that it would behoove our leaders in Washington, D.C. to remember the next time that they debate billions and trillions in spending, that each one of those dollars came from a taxpaying citizen.
A large poster sitting behind Vilsack illustrated how her five-point proposal could root more than $250 billion in fraud and waste over the next decade. The plan contained nothing that could be considered ground breaking, with phrase "fighting waste, fraud, and abuse" being a political talking point since the first politician, but that was not the point Vilsack was trying to press.
"We have to continue to be vigilant. Part of that is moving into this century and making sure that we coordinate efforts and use the technology that we have," Vilsack said. "The criminals are using technology to outsmart the rest of us and so government has to keep up."
One plank would put a permanent inspector general, a job solely dedicated to uncovering waste and abuse of tax dollars, in every federal department. According to the Project on Government Oversight, at least 10 major federal agencies lack such a position.
Next, Vilsack joined the chorus asking for Medicare to be allowed to negotiate drug prices with large pharmaceutical companies. She pointed to a Congressional committee report that estimated more than $150 billion could be saved over 10 years. Vilsack also said that as much as $60 billion in health care spending is lost to fraud each year. She would increase the ability of the Center for Medicare Services to combat such fraud and save $60 billion a year.
The Woman and Infant Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) programs are designed for the truly needy, but likely the easiest to abuse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees these acronyms and Vilsack is asking for them to have more authority to investigate and monitor for offenses.
Finally, Vilsack called for expanding on the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, which passed the House two weeks ago. The bill calls for a streamlined, government-wide database of federal contractors to replace the multiple systems and databases currently in use. Contractors are civilians or private businesses that perform specific work for the government. Their use has become increasingly common, especially in the Defense Department. The Commission on Wartime Contracting estimates that as much as $60 billion has been lost due to contract fraud and waste in the Iraq and Afghanistan theatres.
Vilsack believes that her proposals should be looked at as best practices for stopping waste and abuse before it starts, citing the either cliche or common sense axiom that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
"The confidence man is a character from our history and literature; there's always a con man out there trying to take advantage." Vilsack said. "You have to save and you always have to be vigilant, and that means that you have to have leadership." |
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©The Ogden Reporter 2013
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