Fraud, Inflation, and Waste – How COVID-19 Stimulus Cost Taxpayers
Pandemic stimulus and relief packages -- marketed as necessary – came with soaring price tags.
By: Andrew Moran June 04, 2022 - 6:46 am
The $2.2 trillion CARES Act, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP), and the billions in additional federal, state, and local stimulus and relief spending were promoted as essential expenditures to cushion the blows from the coronavirus pandemic. Be it the paycheck protection program (PPP) or the sweetened unemployment benefits, it turns out that there was plenty of fraud and waste in all three levels of government, in addition to the inflation that this astronomical fiscal expansion triggered. In the end, how much did US households really receive in pandemic benefits, and how much was abused?
The Brass Tacks
Following the passage of President Joe Biden’s signature ARP, more than $6 trillion in deficit-financed spending was handed out to millions of Americans throughout the once-in-a-century public health crisis, including stimulus checks, child tax credits (CTC), and unemployment insurance, according to a March 2021 study by the Tax Foundation. The report noted that the typical family of four whose breadwinner lost his or her job received more than $50,000 in benefits, including Lost Wages Assistance, CARES Act, December 2020 relief package, unemployment insurance benefits, and ARP.
But while this is a massive figure, new reports are spotlighting how much fraudulent activity took place as these funds were being allocated to the public, whether large corporations or average households.
more
https://www.libertynation.com/fraud-inflation-and-waste-how-covid-19-stimulus-cost-taxpayers/
