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0 pointsHWR_144y ago0 comments

There is some fraud and abuse, of course. And the huge numbers involved mean that even a small percentage of fraud is a huge number. But there never seems to be any statistics that back up the assertion that government (in general) or the US government (in particular) produces outrageous amount of fraud or abuse.

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disabled4y ago

That is correct, and many of my family members are American accountants and/or CPAs. I suspect that this individual is mixing "fraud and abuse" for "things I don't like and/or agree with paying Uncle Sam [the US government taxman] for". But, that is just a part of life for just about everyone who pays taxes.

If the above individual wants to see widespread corruption, you may want to check out some European Union countries that have this culture. Croatia is a good example, where nepotism is the modus operandi, as in whom you know will get you places in society. Bulgaria is also a great example.

foobarian4y ago

> Croatia is a good example

When I think of a country like Croatia, I like to compare it to some locale in the US with a similar total pop (4-5M?). Things start to make more sense then, that's a smallish metro region where that kind of networking is more common.

sagarm4y ago

> nepotism is the modus operandi

It's pretty clear that a huge chunk of the US doesn't consider nepotism corruption, given the complete lack of repercussions to Trump for hiring his family into the White House.

disabled4y ago

Agreed. I am sorry that you are getting downvoted.

JohnWhigham4y ago

But there never seems to be any statistics

Ever heard of the Pentagon? Here's a good start: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/pentagon-audit-bud...

HWR_14OP4y ago

It's a little difficult to even understand what they're accusing the government of. The Army had a budget of $111 billion but spent $2.7 trillion and no one noticed? Really? That just doesn't pass the smell test. Most likely, they're misinterpreting something.

I will say that looking up the results of the more recent audits (2020), the summaries frequently talking about failing audits but also of uncovering zero evidence of fraud.

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disabled4y ago

foobarian4y ago

> Croatia is a good example

sagarm4y ago

> nepotism is the modus operandi

It's pretty clear that a huge chunk of the US doesn't consider nepotism corruption, given the complete lack of repercussions to Trump for hiring his family into the White House.

disabled4y ago

Agreed. I am sorry that you are getting downvoted.

JohnWhigham4y ago

But there never seems to be any statistics

Ever heard of the Pentagon? Here's a good start: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/pentagon-audit-bud...

HWR_14OP4y ago

I will say that looking up the results of the more recent audits (2020), the summaries frequently talking about failing audits but also of uncovering zero evidence of fraud.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse