Recently government auditors have been working overtime and the reports are scandalous -- even for Capitol Hill. One audit of U.S. financial practices in Iraq, for example, found "millions of federal budget dollars for operations in Iraq stuffed casually into footlockers." Investigations into the response to Hurricane Katrina victims learned that the posh Carnival Cruise Lines received a $236 million federal contract to house Hurricane Katrina victims without a competitive bid. Three full service cruise ships sat half-empty for weeks in the Gulf Coast while evacuees were sent elsewhere.
And there are more such examples to look forward to. Projections buried in the Interior Department’s budget plan for fiscal 2007, for example, estimate that, despite record profits and high prices, the government will let oil and gas companies pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territory over the next five years without paying anything -- the federal government (taxpayers) will give up $7 billion in royalty payments.
Indeed, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently said the federal government reported over $38 billion in "improper payments" (payments made due to errors, waste, fraud and abuse). That’s more than enough to pay the entire cost of Notch Reform. With Notch Babies at advanced ages, we now believe the cost of Notch Reform to be around $27 billion.
"The Notch Fairness Act" continues to gain co-sponsors. The legislation would provide Notch Babies born from 1917 through 1926 a choice of a $5,000 lump-sum payable over four annual installments, or improved monthly benefits.
Please help build support for passage and contact your Member of Congress. If you don’t know where your Member of Congress stands on Notch Reform, you can check the "Track Important Bills" section of our web site. Let’s ask your Representative in the House to co-sponsor H.R. 615 "The Notch Fairness Act."
Sources: "Audit Describes Misuse of Funds in Iraq Projects," James Glanz, The New York Times, January 25, 2006. "Lawmaker Calls On Jeb Bush to Explain Role In Carival Deal," The Associated Press, February 28, 2006. "U.S. Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies," Edmund Andrews, The New York Times, February 14, 2006. "Challenges Remain in Meeting Requirements of the Improper Payments Information Act," GAO, March 9, 2006, GAO-06-482T.
May 2006
