Topic: Iowa's Sen. Chuck Grassley's letter on GRAVY TRAIN CHUGS ALONG!
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Gravy Train Chugs Along by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
As taxpayers calculate what they owe Uncle Sam this tax filing season, federal lawmakers calculated the tax and spending guidelines on a $3 trillion budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
This budget blueprint sets the stage for congressional committees to divvy out tax dollars that finance national defense, health care, transportation, education, criminal justice, foreign aid, agriculture and other programs.
The annual debate surrounding tax and spend policies typically result in plenty of disagreement among lawmakers. Likewise plenty of interest groups scout every opportunity to hop aboard the budget train making its way out of Washington.
Taxpayers deserve to know where their tax dollars end up once they reach the Federal Treasury. Voters count on their elected representatives to use hard-earned tax dollars wisely. That's why I've worked to bring transparency and accountability to the federal budgeting process.
Last year I supported new disclosure requirements that would apply to congressionally directed spending, widely known as ``earmarks.''
Senators now are required to submit in writing the details of projects from which they seek federal funding and certify they would receive no personal financial benefit.
Once Congress appropriates tax dollars to fund roads, schools, medical research or food safety, I closely track the money trail.
History teaches us that wrongdoers have long viewed the federal budget as a gravy train. Unscrupulous government contractors and subcontractors devise complicated schemes that fleece taxpayers and rob the public from receiving the full benefit of a fully funded program.
During debate on the 2009 federal budget, I put the U.S. Senate on record that overseas government contracts should be held to the same standards as domestic contracts.
A proposal regulating government contractors would exempt federal overseas contractors from reporting contract abuse.
It's outright negligent to allow tax dollars spent overseas to evade the reporting requirements that could help deter fraud.
My amendment leaves the door open for Congress to take action if this loophole isn't fixed.
When I was first elected to the U.S. Senate, I launched a crusade to expose and eliminate fraud from government programs. Just as a sheriff depends on deputies to help enforce the rule of law, I champion the efforts of private citizens to blow the whistle on wrongdoers bent on looting the gravy train.
My updates to the False Claims Act in 1986 have allowed individuals to bring lawsuits against those who defraud the federal government and to keep a portion of recovered funds.
Beefing up the Civil War-era law created the government's most effective anti-fraud tool, credited by the U.S. Justice Department for helping recoup more than $20 billon to the Federal Treasury that would otherwise have been lost to fraud.
Riding herd on Uncle Sam's money trail also has exposed banditry within the federal bureaucracy.
My oversight has uncovered outrageous spending sprees by government employees abusing government-issued credit cards and the misuse of first class and business class air travel air travel charged to taxpayers by government workers.
Employees of the federal government are responsible for carrying out the people's business.
When tax dollars are lost to fraud or wasteful spending, a breach of trust occurs between hard-working taxpayers and the federal government.
The same goes for the nonprofit sector which enjoys significant tax-advantaged incentives to perform good works.
Charities receive billions of dollars in tax breaks subsidized by U.S. taxpayers and may qualify for billions more in government grants, contracts and payments.
Charitable organizations represent nearly 10 percent of the economy and the workforce.
Tracking the money trail within the nonprofit sector has uncovered examples of abusive spending that derail basic rules of good governance and fiscal integrity.
Since 2001 my investigation of tax-favored charitable organizations has sought to ensure these organizations uphold their charitable mission to the public and don't take advantage of tax-advantaged status for the personal gain of their executives.
My efforts to protect taxpayers' hard-earned money and the intent of donors have included oversight work of nonprofit hospitals, university endowments and media-based ministries.
From my platform in the U.S. Senate, I will continue to conduct oversight to help derail raids on the federal budget that rob hard-working taxpayers and take the American public for a ride.
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