Remember that time Congress spent trillions of dollars we didn't have to provide relief from the unnecessary and illegal lockdowns? And then actual Americans only received a pittance while the resulting inflation murdered our paychecks after we were mercifully allowed to eventually go back to work?
Yeah, it's so much worse than that, according to Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas). While the name of Sessions's subcommittee is a mouthful, what they've uncovered has got to be the biggest theft in the history of — well, everything.
Sessions said the theft adds up to "Half a trillion dollars. Maybe more. Much of it lost to criminal actors and our enemies. Often using comically simple tactics.”
“Insiders, including those who worked for state workforce agencies, conspired with organized crime factions and other individuals to defraud state UI programs and the states did little to stop them,” a House Oversight Committee report released late last week said. “Some states even hired individuals convicted of identity theft to process UI claims.”
Meanwhile, Presidentish Joe Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act — which even he finally admitted did no such thing — provided "the largest single infusion of funds" in the history of the IRS so it could go after waitresses' tips and transactions adding up to more than $600 a year on your Venmo or PayPal accounts. Because we can't have people who are living from paycheck to paycheck get away with robbing Uncle Sam of a hundred bucks here and there. But half a trillion dollars going to thieves and scammers here and abroad? Washington has a shrug emoji for that.
Nearly all the thieves have gotten away with the money, too, but that's not even the most ridiculous part. Congress authorized an additional $40 million for the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee to find and prevent all this fraud. Yet according to that report, "at least 17 percent of all COVID-19 EIDL and PPP funds were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors."
"I'd like my $40 million in fraud prevention back at the very least," America said, knowing that not even that is going to happen.
I'm a "peace through strength" guy, so let me put those losses in perspective.
The $200 billion low-end figure would replace every single one of our aged Minuteman ICBMs (the last one was built in 1978) with shiny, new Sentinal missiles and the underground silos that protect them. There would still be plenty left over for a squadron or two of B-21 Raider stealth bombers. $500 billion would buy us enough new Navy vessels, missiles, and jets to bottle the Communist Chinese up on their own coast for another generation, protect our global trade, and smash the Houthis completely back to the Dark Ages.
That last one is a bad example. Their Dark Ages only ended around 2018 or so. If then.
Congress has serious responsibilities, including national defense and protecting our nation's finances. They frivolously threw away money we don't have to make you forget the abuse heaped on you during COVID — and let thieves get away with gobs of it.
Recommended: No Rest for the Wicked in the Aftermath of Trump's Second Assassination Attempt
PJ Media was founded in the wake of Rathergate to protect free speech from government regulators and mainstream media gatekeepers alike. Help us keep up the fight during our 60% off FIGHT promotion. If you're already a member, thank you so much for your support.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member