Wednesday, February 23, 2011

6 Obscure Government Agencies That Waste Your Money.





So what does the government waste all of this money we give them on? Here are 6 good examples.



#1: Minerals Management Service (MMS)
This one got a bit more notoriety during the BP oil spill, If it weren’t for an exploding oil rig that killed 11 people, you and I probably wouldn’t have a clue what the Minerals Management Service is. One interesting fact that came to light was that Minerals Management Service has SWAT teams to use for compliance. According to News Herald, this agency knew that the “supposedly fail-safe system designed to protect against the leak of thousands of barrels of oil was not fail-safe”, and yet they did nothing.
But thanks in part to these regulators not doing their job, or being bribed; we spent months dealing with a nonstop gusher in the Gulf that started by an explosion that killed 11 men, the Gulf of Mexico and thousands of jobs.
#2: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC, was created by Congress to “insure participants in defined-benefit pension plans against losing their pension if their employer is in financial distress or fails to fully pre-fund its pension obligations.” About 44 million Americans are protected by PBGC.
Unfortunately, it appears the PBGC will soon be unable to meet its obligations for retirees. The agency is constantly facing billions of dollars in deficit, and it seems that a taxpayer-funded bailout may be inevitable. Its time to make corporations responsible for their own plans insurance not let it fall on the government. Pensions previously sponsored by Bethlehem Steel, the Chicago Sun-Times, Delphi, LTV Steel, and United Airlines are among the agency's more dramatic recent acquisitions.
#3: Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP)
The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) make sure human subjects in research are protected when the research is conducted or supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The agency most recently made the news as human rights groups are seeking the OHRP’s help to investigate claims that medical professionals helped the CIA perform experiments on detainees after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It’s this obscure agency’s duty to investigate these allegations to ensure no illegal human experimentation was carried out. Another agency could easily do this.
#4: Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
The MCC was created to provide international assistance to some of the poorest countries in the world. Since 2004, MCC has been creating partnerships with impoverished countries, but only with those countries “committed to good governance, economic freedom, and investments in their citizens.”
Some of these partners are countries like Jordan to which we pledged $275 million more to in October 2010, and Morocco, which got a 5-year, $700 million deal in 2007 all via the MCC. Both of these countries have recently seen protests due to the human rights and economic abuses of their leaders…good investment strategy.
#5: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
According to the agency’s website, “The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) charters, regulates, and supervises all national banks. It also supervises the federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.” The OCC did nothing to stop predatory lending practices, or really regulate anything, putting countless Americans in a dreadful state of affairs.
#6: U.S. Board on Geographic Names
This agency is responsible for deciding upon the names of the geographic highlights of our picturesque land. The federal agency was created in 1890 to “maintain uniform geographic name usage throughout the Federal Government.” There are dozens of board members from 10 different government agencies including the State Dept., Homeland Security and the CIA.
The number of wasteful useless federal government agencies confuses the mind!

Here is a good blog on overall waste, its very thorough.
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