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| Martin Hoyt |
The COVID-19 pandemic epitomizes the federal bureaucracy’s callousness toward responsible stewardship and efficient management of government resources during a crisis. The bureaucrats and the government that enables them don’t care.
The government spent $4.5 trillion on COVID-19 response efforts targeting economic relief, healthcare, and support for businesses and individuals.
Unfortunately, a significant part of these funds was wasted, contrasting sharply with the investments made for preparation and response in the prior decade.
Since March 2020, it is estimated that more than $300 billion was wasted on fraud in pandemic relief programs. Last September, the GAO estimated the total amount of fraud across all Unemployment Insurance programs (including the new emergency programs) during the COVID-19 pandemic was between $100 billion and $135 billion. This represents 11 percent to 15 percent of the UI benefits paid during the pandemic.
The Paycheck Protection Program also experienced significant levels of fraud. As much as 15 percent of all PPP loans – $120 billion – were suspicious or fraudulent. The Justice Department is addressing significant fraud that is afflicting other relief efforts.
According to Michael C. Galdo, the acting director of COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement, of the 371 defendants that Justice has charged, 63 allegedly had ties to violent crime or violent gang members, and 25 allegedly have connections to transnational crime networks. Gang members reportedly used some of the pandemic funds to finance murder-for-hire schemes.
Much of the waste was more routine bureaucratic bungling. Exact figures are hard to nail down, but reports indicate billions were wasted on unusable or overpriced personal protective equipment and medical supplies. Large sums were spent on contracts for PPE that either failed to meet medical and safety standards or were never delivered. Some sources estimate that $1 billion was spent on faulty or substandard medical supplies and PPE: masks produced in China, protective gowns, ventilators from a federal stockpile, etc. Consumers felt the exorbitant spike in prices of hand sanitizer, masks and protective gloves. --->READ MORE HERE
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst is sounding the alarm on “foreign adversaries,” including China and Russia, infiltrating US laboratories — after a recent congressional report revealed that thousands of foreign citizens were granted access to the research facilities last year.
“National Laboratories are prime targets for espionage and theft by foreign adversaries,” the Iowa lawmaker wrote in a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Wednesday.
“For decades, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been actively recruiting scientists from National Labs to work on their own military programs and stealing our research using visiting students and scholars.”
Ernst has demanded data from the Department of Energy about the access that Chinese, Russian and Iranian nationals have garnered to the department’s 17 national laboratories over recent years.
She cited a report from the Senate Intelligence Committee that revealed “approximately 40,000 citizens of foreign countries, including more than 8,000 citizens from China and Russia, were granted access to the premises, information, or technology” of the labs in fiscal year 2023.
“After COVID-19 we should have learned our lesson about trusting Communist China’s scientists,” the Hawkeye State Republican told The Post.
“We know our adversaries run sophisticated espionage programs to steal research, we do not need to invite them in.” --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
1,095 days: 3 years of COVID-19 response at Emory
New COVID subvariant poses winter threat, scientists say
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates
YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates
NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest
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