Keelan: Unfortunately, it has happened again
Once again, two nonprofits, one in South Royalton, Vermont, and the other across the border in Lebanon, New Hampshire, have fallen victim to embezzlement.
John Klar: Free lunch programs plagued by waste, confusion about nutrition
One problem with school lunches has been waste. About 30 million out of 49.2 million U.S. students receive school lunches. But kids throw away a lot of food, especially if it is unsavory. One study reports that K-12 children throw away about half of school cafeteria food.
Roper: Auditor’s report shows just how bad our lawmakers screwed up the broadband buildout
State Auditor Doug Hoffer just released a 12-page report about how the cable broadband expansion effort is going two years and over $150 million into what is anticipated to be a $600-$800 million project. It’s about what you would expect from a massively bureaucratic, multi-layered government system.
John Klar: The fraud of EBT cards
Most Vermonters have no problem with those in need receiving assistance, especially during winter. But abuses of the “system” for public assistance should be policed and curtailed: currently they are not, and this is a significant problem.
Report claims unions skirted rules to receive PPP loans
The Small Business Administration-administered Paycheck Protection Program paid out millions of dollars to ineligible unions, according to a new report released by the Freedom Foundation.
John Klar: Inflating the gravy train — clueless bureaucracy thrives during COVID
Vermont’s seemingly unrestrained spending during the COVID pandemic reveals the unsustainable fantasy world in which the current ultra-Progressive Legislature has taken lodging. Throttling up spending and debt ultimately hurts the very people who are supposedly the object of government relief.
Vermont Department of Labor temporarily suspends online UI application for new filers in order to combat fraud
The Vermont Department of Labor disabled its online unemployment insurance initial claim application in response to a sharp increase in fraudulent claims being filed. Upon review of the claims being submitted, more than 90% of initial claims were being flagged as fraudulent.
Republicans push back as Biden’s proposed spending requests top $6 trillion
Republican lawmakers pushed back Wednesday after the White House unveiled a new $1.8 trillion spending plan that includes free college tuition provisions and up to 12 weeks of paid family leave.
John Klar: Under COVID-19, leftists jump to make Vermont school lunches wasteful and ‘woke’
The same government that seeks to mandate electric school buses to avert climate change dispatched a fleet of diesel-fueled school buses to deliver lunches! Was that in the best interests of children?
John Klar: A modest proposal to fund Vermont’s pensions
I here propose a bold plan, which I will call the “Vermont Pension Funding Action Plan.” The plan would create a state task force to combat fraud and waste, replete with a confidential phone line for reporting.
The Paycheck Protection Program didn’t save jobs, was ‘inefficient use of funds,’ economists say
The small business relief Paycheck Protection Program was inefficient and didn’t actually save many small business jobs compared to other programs, economists said.
McClaughry: New House spending rule on COVID and climate
The new rules package for the 117th Congress grants a sweeping new exemption from deficit controls for two favored types of spending: countering the coronavirus and — wait for it — programs to combat climate change.