78-15-B8

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Miscellaneous

Transcript A number of little items have stacked up on my desk. I don't know whether you'll enjoy them but they might be interesting. Have you ever wondered if possibly the tremendous cost of government has come about because the figures are just too big for comprehension? For anything to do with the Federal government we automatically talk billions, but now very stealthily the word "trillion" creeps in. Right now in budget discussions the new budget is being referred to as a half-a-trillion dollars. That is the figure five followed by 11 zeros. Now we can say the government under that budget will be spending one and one-third billion dollars a day, but even that is hard for any of us to picture. So let's try another way. Suppose you could stay awake and active every minute, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for almost ten years--roughly about nine-and-a-half to be more exact. And suppose you spent $100,000 a minute, around the clock, everyday in those nine-and-a-half years. You would have spent roughly half-a-trillion dollars, or next year's Federal budget. Maybe that's better than counting sheep to go to sleep. Tonight just watch the clock tick off the minutes and think, "there goes another $100,000--spent on what?" Well, Congressional investigators working on the General Services Administration case have already turned up 1000 employees they say are involved in corruption totaling $66 million in fraud. That accounts for 11 hours of those nine-and-a half years. We begin to get into the big money with programs like C.E.T.A--the "Comprehensive Employment and Training Act". Its annual budget is $11 billion. At $100,000 a minute that takes care of another 76 days. But how "comprehensive" is the Comprehensive Employment Training? Well, there is a fellow in Chicago getting $750 a month for teaching youngsters to slap their bodies as "human drums". In Florida 22 workers are being paid to ring doorbells and ask people if they are aware they might be eligible for food stamps. And in our nation's Capitol, 56 of 126 employees of the city council are getting salaries from C.E.T.A. ranging from $10,000 to more than $20,000 a year. Congressman John Ashbrook of Ohio has called attention to the $683,861 grant to Cesar Chavez union in California. It will be used mainly to train workers for jobs within the union. Well, enough of that. Here are two short items and the desk is clear. Government Accounting Office inspectors have discovered that a federal program to insure slum buildings which can't qualify for regular insurance has created an arson-for-profit business. Operators have been buying up slum buildings, putting then on government insurance and burning them down. Last item: the Federal Reserve System was created in 1913 to prevent depressions. The 1913 dollar is now worth 12 cents. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 78-15-B8 Production Date 10/31/1978 Book/Page Online PDF Audio Youtube? No
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