Senator details billions in alleged wasteful spending

Congressional Republicans are citing billions of dollars in federal overpayments and other waste as the GOP dusts off waste, fraud and abuse as budget-cutting targets for this election year, the Associated Press reported.

Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., released a list Monday that claims $221 billion in wasted government money, some of it dating to the 1980s.

The paper, which compiled past findings by agencies' inspectors general and the GAO, cited $90 billion in unpaid taxes and $12.6 billion in estimated Medicare overpayments.

In addition, House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, plans to release his own study next week chronicling more than $19 billion in waste he calls "just the tip of the iceberg."

That survey, also recounting past audits by other agencies, cited overpayments under Medicare, veterans' benefits and other programs. It noted shoddy bookkeeping by the Defense Department and other agencies that Kasich said meant hundreds of billions of dollars were improperly accounted for.

While promising to attack waste seems popular on its face, the effort faces several obstacles.

Republicans have not decided exactly how to do it, with GOP senators generally less enthusiastic than their House counterparts about the campaign. And in an election year, some Republicans seem reluctant to target waste in Medicare, food stamps and other popular programs.

In addition, the political payoff may be limited because Democrats say they will not be outmaneuvered and will join in eliminating any valid problems uncovered.