Do you think government waste should be used for pay or equipment?

SSgt (Join to see). Depending on one's individual perspective there are many programs that may seem on first glance to be unwise - and are often artifact of the way the national budget and federal agency budgeting process work. One major issue is that budget managers are in essence told - this is how much you have to spend this year - if you don't spend all of it - we'll cut your budget next year - so rather than deciding that some project is not worth supporting - agency officials tend to spend until they have no budget left. We could attack this problem by spending a bit more on better oversight, giving some rewards for saving government money, allowing agencies to roll over unused funds into next year, or returning to more critical zero base budgeting across agencies. Frankly, a lot of what passes for legitimate agency expenditure is actually employment subsidy to provide employment security for people who actually ceased to be predictive many years ago - and are insulated from being laid off or terminated by their good buddies or civil service. Unfortunately, any real budget reform will be painful to some politically sensitive people or organizations - and this makes it difficult for anyone who may want to remain office to make themselves campaign targets. The greed, fraud, and waste uncovered by the senator is only the tip of the iceberg !!! Warmest Regards, Sandy

SSgt (Join to see) LTC Stephen C. CMDCM Gene Treants

I think that "government waste" --- like the programs pointed out --- should be stopped and the money redirected to paying down the national debt, rebuilding our critical infrastructure, revitalizing social security, etc. Unfortunately, our political "leadership" doesn't seem to care about doing what's right for the country anymore ... only what benefits the entitled few, the illegal immigrants, and the citizens of other countries.

Corn Subsidy (2012) $2,702,462,268
Tobacco Subsidy (2012) $188,776,927
Sunflower Subsidy (2012) $50,877,639
Livestock Subsidy (2012) $58,653,613

When will the madness end?