Reparations & “Rampant Fed Fraud”

WSJ’s Philly “Fraud & Equity Gone Wrong” op ed is one reason the so-called “national reparations movement” is a bad joke. Add to this tip of the iceberg the BILLIONS wasted on abused affirmative actions & entitlements …

It’s not that taxpayer largess in recent history hasn’t pulled many disadvantaged folks out of the creepy inner-city slums & into American dream suburban homes. Ditto success stories in re those fed programs designed to lend a helping hand to minority businesses. And, that’s of course commendable, if not inspiring. YET, as the paper’s editorial board reminds us of reality: “The feds steer billions to ‘disadvantaged’ firms” & one might conclude from Uncle Sam’s own litigation stats that fraud as well as waste is more than a tad as plentiful as the helping hand it’s supposed to meet out. One case in point cited was the US Attorney in Philadelphia recently winning “a $1 million settlement for fraud in federal contracting to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises or DBEs” that were granted willy-nilly on basis of claimed 51% “identity” rather than “merit.” You know how that numbers crunching game goes: Include as straw men (no pun intended) women, blacks, Hispanics, Native American Indians, Asian-Pacific or Subcontinent Asian in the ownership equation to “qualify” and, bingo. Same goes for the formulas used to determine “size” of a given grant & whether the “bidding” is legit or rigged.

As it happens, the editors point out, a 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers Journal cites DOT data covering “over 1K investigations related to DBE fraud from 1998 to 2019.” It concludes: “DBE fraud is pervasive” in a $6 billion “pot” during that period. Then, we read stories of pervasive Medicaid fraud, pervasive Medicare fraud, pervasive Covid-relief fraud, pervasive homeless subsidy fraud … Well, let’s just say those casino odds at the Reservations dotting our country might bet million to one “reparations” for this, that & the other past sin, have already passed the TRILLION DOLLAR mark.

Davd Soul