National Leader in Government Transparency Adam Andrzejewski from Open the Books Discussing $23 Trillion of Improper Payments 3pm Monday January 25, 2021 on KWRO
Forbes: Why America is in TROUBLE!!! 20 Largest U.S. Federal Agencies Admit To $2.3 Trillion In Improper Payments Since 2004
Here are the top 10 takeaways regarding improper and mistaken payments by the 20 largest federal agencies in 2019:
1. Total Mistakes: $175 billion in estimated improper payments reported by the 20 largest federal agencies, averaging $14.6 billion per month – Total (FY2004-FY2019): $2.25 trillion
2. Worst Programs - $121 billion (approximately 69 percent) in improper payments occurred within three program areas – Medicaid, Medicare, and Earned Income Tax Credit.
3. Claw Back – only $21.1 billion of the $175 billion improper payments during 2019 was recaptured — that’s only 14 cents on every dollar misspent. Five-year total: $103.6 billion recaptured/ $747.7 billion improperly spent
4. Biggest Offenders:
5. Dead people: $871.9 million in mistaken payments were made to dead people. Medicaid, social security payments, federal retirement annuity payouts (pensions), and even farm subsidies were sent to dead recipients. Root cause: failure to verify death. Four-year total: $2.8 billion
6. Ancient Americans: Six million Social Security numbers are active for people aged 112+; however, only 40 people in the world are known to be older than 112 years of age.
7. Worst Upward Trend: Medicaid and Medicare improper payments soared from $64 billion (2012) to $88.6 billion (2017), and, in 2019, to $103.6 billion. Five-year total: $456 billion
8. Best Turnaround: In 2018, the Education Department overpaid $6 billion to college students receiving PELL grants and student loans. In 2019, improper payments were reduced to $1.1 billion – an 85-percent reduction.
9. Improper Income Redistribution: $17.4 billion in improper payments by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) within the Earned Income Tax Credit program. 25-percent of all payments were improper. Five-year total: $84.35 billion
10. Purchasing Power: What can $175 billion buy? Last year, the federal government wasted the equivalent of a full year of all federal salaries, perks, and pension benefits for every employee of the federal executive agencies. A stunning example of institutionalized incompetence.
About Adam:
Adam Andrzejewski is a national leader in bringing transparency to government spending, Adam Andrzejewski, (Angie-f-ski) the eldest of seven children, was born in rural Herscher, IL-- a hardworking small town, and family farm community. After working his way through Northern Illinois University, Adam and his brother successfully built a $20 million dollar business which employed 160.
Today, HomePages® is the nation’s largest publisher of community telephone directories. Selling his share of the business to his brother in 2007, Adam began to focus on a life of public service.
In 2010, Adam ran for Governor of Illinois in the Republican primary. Adam was proud to be endorsed by Nobel Peace Prize winner and Solidarity founder Lech Walesa, among others. Adam promised he would post “every dime online in real time.” Despite a close loss on Election Day, Adam founded OpenTheBooks.com to fulfill his campaign pledge.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com contains 1 billion lines of government spending with the goal of acquiring 2 billion lines within the year. Currently posted is nearly all disclosed federal checkbook vendor spending since 2000; 2.5 million federal employee salaries with five year salary histories; 41/50 states checkbook vendor spending; 36/50 states with public salaries and/or pensions; and all federal campaign donations since 1979. On May 29, 2013, Andrzejewski’s editorial was published in The Wall Street Journal, “Track Government Spending on Your Phone.” The editorial showcased our first-to-market technology enabling taxpayers to search federal spending by ZIP code. Click here to read In September 2013, John Stossel’s FOX News special- Innovation Nation featured a segment on OpenTheBooks.com. Click to watch Stossel’s show. Adam is happily married to his wife Kerry and the proud father of three beautiful little girls. He is an avid runner, having run the Chicago Marathon on four occasions. Adam is a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church in Hinsdale, IL. Recent Accomplishments:
★ Chosen by American Swiss Foundation, founded by Amb. Faith Whittlesey, as a “U.S. Young Leader” and attended the 2012 Young Leaders Conference in Zurich, Switzerland.
★ Filed lawsuit vs. Republican Comptroller Judy Baar-Topinka to successfully force open a half trillion dollars of line-by-line IL checkbook spending since 2005.
★ First-to-market, Open The Books App shows all federal checkbook spending since 2000 by ZIP code. 2013 “Best Political App” by prestigious Web Marketing Association.
★ The Federal Transfer™- Farm Subsidies & The Big Dogs: quantified 4,000 entities in Chicago, Washington D.C. and New York City receiving farm subsidies where there are no farms. Our report was sourced by stories in the Washington Examiner, Fox News, National Review, The Blaze, and shared on social media nearly 100,000 times.