The Problem With News Articles About Waste, Fraud and Abuse In Washington D.C. Is The Articles Are Too Long

 

This may surprise you, but I contend I do not write Political Blog Postings. I often write about politics, but I take no position about politics. I do not write about Stupid, Ignorant or Apparently Illegal things that Democrat or Republican Politicians do. I write about the Stupid, Ignorant or Apparently Illegal things done by Politicians who are either Democrat or Republican (those are our only choices).

I am not going to Hoist Myself on My Own Petard. (Yes, I looked up “Hoist Myself on My Own Petard” but I will not bother bothering you about what I found). Just when you think you have gotten your mind around what the article you are reading is trying to prove at word 2,752, the article moves on and at word 5,564 it contradicts and disproves what you thought they thought they were proving way back at that 2,752^nd word.

The article I am trying to understand at present tries to make the point that most examples of government fraud ($2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala) do not meet the Legal Definition of Fraud.

When I got to this point in the article, I felt like I was in church because I started thinking, “Alleluia! Alleluia! I am about to see the Definition of Fraud! Now we are getting somewhere!”

It was at this point that my Excitement Bubble Burst because I then read, “Fraud requires a showing of bad intent by the perpetrator and financial harm to the government.”

In the midst of all this Exciting Clarification Confusion, the article threw in this muckety-muck, “On Friday the Times reported that a Nevada woman pleaded guilty to filing more than 1,200 tax returns to fraudulently claim Covid-19 tax credits of nearly $100 million.” She allegedly “used the money to gamble at casinos, take vacations and buy luxury cars and purchase designer clothing from Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.”

Several points of Confused Common Sense (Common Sense should not be confusing) raised their very ugly heads...

• Joey, said to Shane in the movie Shane, “But, Shane, there’s too many” ... How on the earth could she have filed so many claims without a person, computer or doorknob not noticing that she was filing so many claims? One would think that by the 6^th Claim Filing Alarms would start going off. OK, she got past the sixth claim but 1,200!? We all know that our world likes to round off to even numbers. The only solace I take from all of this is knowing that the real number was somewhere around a more understandably acceptable 1,194 Claim Filings. 
• Fraud requires a showing of bad intent by the perpetrator ... How many Questionable Intents are allowed before they turn into Bad Intent? Does it not automatically turn into Bad Intent when one takes action to acquire money to which they are not entitled? There is an enormous difference between, “It is my money. Give me my money” and “It is not my money. Give the money that is not my money to me.”
• Financial harm to the government ... If the Government really cared about its money, it would pay more attention to its money. I contend it is not possible to Financially Harm the Government by taking money from the Government because the Government does not seem to care if its money is being taken.

It is like the old Jay Leno Commercial for Doritos where he said, “Crunch all you want. We’ll make more.” Only, in this case, the Government is saying, “Steal all you want. We’ll make more.”

Would I kid u?

Smartfella