How much money is this administration wasting? How much of it is going into the pockets of corporations who are friends with the administration? How can we even find out about all this?
A small start is the General Accountability Office (GAO). It has just come out with a new report on how the government spent money to help with Katrina's aftermath:
The government wasted millions of dollars in its award of post-Katrina contracts for disaster relief, including at least $3 million for 4,000 beds that were never used, federal auditors said Thursday.
The contracts for disaster relief were largely offered without any competition. Think about that: the people who worship the god of markets hand contracts out without any competition. Because speed was of the essence, naturally, and because there was no preparation that would have made this speed automatic in a bidding process. Because nobody could anticipate the levees would break.
But all this is just pennies compared to what is going on in Iraq. The trillion dollar adventure must benefit someone, and I'd really like to see a good study about where it is all going.
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Added later: The federal debt is now 30,000 dollars per each American.