$67 million missing from IRS Obamacare slush fund

[marvin martian]

I know $67 million represents merely a halfway decent vacation for the first family, but for some people, that's still a lot of money.

http://www.atr.org/irs-watchdog-million-missing-obamacare-slush-a7886

The IRS is unable to account for $67 million spent from a slush fund established for Obamacare implementation, according to a TIGTA report released today.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The IRS is unable to account for $67 million spent from a slush fund established for Obamacare implementation, according to a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report released today.
The “Health Insurance Reform Implementation Fund” (HIRIF) was tucked into Obamacare in order to give the IRS money to enforce the tax provisions of the healthcare law. The fund, totaling some $1 billion of taxpayer money, was used to roll out enforcement mechanisms for the approximately 50 tax provisions of Obamacare.
According to the report: “Specifically, the IRS did not account for or attempt to quantify approximately $67 million [from the slush fund] of indirect ACA costs incurred for Fiscal Years 2010 through 2012.”
The report also found several other abuses of taxpayer funds, including:
Travel abuse: The report states, “Specifically, we identified 38 IRS employees in two judgmentally selected business units whose travel was charged to the HIRIF in FY 2012, but no portion of their salary and related benefits was charged to the HIRIF.” In short, the IRS was not making sure that employee travel reimbursements had anything to do with the purpose of the fund. This is not the first time that IRS employee travel has created a scandal for the agency.
1,272 IRS Obamacare enforcement agents: The report estimates that total slush fund spending cost taxpayers the equivalent of 1,272 new full time IRS agents.
The IRS requested an additional 859 IRS Obamacare enforcement agents for Fiscal Year 2013: According to the report, “The IRS informed us that it requested $360 million and 859 FTEs for FY 2013 to continue implementation of the ACA. However, the IRS did not receive this requested amount for FY 2013.”
To add insult to injury, the IRS has told the Inspector General that it will comply with the recommendations made in the report; unfortunately, the slush fund has been fully spent, making that promise meaningless.

 

[Zam-Zam]

I know $67 million represents merely a halfway decent vacation for the first family, but for some people, that's still a lot of money.

http://www.atr.org/irs-watchdog-million-missing-obamacare-slush-a7886

Whether the money was lost through incompetence or downright larceny, either way their will probably be no meaningful consequences. Other than the government, I don't know who else could fail to account for 67 million dollars and not have to worry about someone going to prison or at least being fired.

It's as if Bernie Madoff is running the IRS.

 

[marvin martian]

Obamacare is going to be an epic con. Another great way for the DNC to launder money and steal from the public.

 

[Corruptbuddha]

Obamacare is going to be an epic con. Another great way for the DNC to launder money and steal from the public.

I believe the word 'epic' is an understatement.

Colossal? Astronomical? Monumental? Vast? Prodigious?

Obamacare will go down as the paragon of failure.

 

[Barbella]

I know $67 million represents merely a halfway decent vacation for the first family, but for some people, that's still a lot of money.

http://www.atr.org/irs-watchdog-million-missing-obamacare-slush-a7886

$67 million? Bah...PEANUTS! I can trump that easily with Jon Corzine's $1.6 BILLION....

Somehow, the chief investment guru of the Obama Administration, former New Jersey governor, Democrat senator, and top Obama campaign contributor Jon Corzine – managed to lose $1.6 billion of his clients’ money, in the fiery crash of his MF Global corporation. During the extensive congressional investigations, the term “vaporized” was floated.

Apparently “vaporization” doesn’t mean jail time when you make a billion dollars disappear, which is probably for the best, since it would be tough on C-SPAN to cover Congress if they were all in prison.

Now CNN Money brings us the happy news that congressional investigators have tracked down the missing client funds. Unfortunately, the firm’s clients won’t be getting a big chunk of it back any time soon. Six months after MF Global collapsed, customers are said to have recovered about 70 percent of what they’re owed, and some of them might get to 80 percent following a recent bankruptcy court action. Strangely enough, there still isn’t any sign of orange jumpsuits for the persons responsible.

Investigators probing the collapse of bankrupt brokerage MF Global said Tuesday that they have located the $1.6 billion in customer money that had gone missing from the firm.

But just how much of those funds can be returned to the firm’s clients, and who will be held responsible for their misappropriation, remains to be seen.

James Giddens, the trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Global Inc, told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that his team’s analysis of how the money went missing “is substantially concluded.”

“We can trace where the cash and securities in the firm went, and that we’ve done,” Giddens said.

So what happened to the loot?

Roughly $700 million of the missing money is now locked up with MF Global’s subsidiary in the United Kingdom, where Giddens and his team are engaged in litigation to have it returned to U.S. customers. Giddens said he is “reasonably confident” that these funds will be recovered, though he added that it will be a lengthy process with no guarantee of success.

Another $220 million was transferred inadvertently from the accounts of securities customers to those of commodities customers. That money is now in limbo amid a dispute over which customers it belongs to, said Kent Jarrell, a spokesman for Giddens.

The final $680 million or so was transferred to other financial institutions with which MF Global did business, including a substantial portion that went to JPMorgan.

Giddens said his team has “a solid basis for seeking the recovery of some of the funds that were transferred to JPMorgan,” and is engaged in ongoing talks on the issue. JPMorgan did not immediately return a request for comment.

I suppose “limbo” is an improvement over “vaporization.” Maybe they should allow MF Global clients to visit their money periodically in limbo, and gaze longingly at it, while they hold hands and dream of happier times.

Speaking of those orange jumpsuits:

“Crimes have been committed here without a doubt,” said James Koutoulas, an attorney and trader who has been advocating on behalf of MF Global customers.

“We think there are enough facts out here to start arresting people and start filing charges.”

Regulators from the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission “can only seek civil penalties and restitution for customers, but their findings could help form the basis of a criminal case brought by the Justice Department.”

Oh, that’s encouraging. Advice for SEC regulators: do not send Attorney General Eric Holder an email to request that criminal case. He doesn’t always read his emails. He missed a ton of them dealing with some wacky hijinks involving American guns in Mexico.

Jon Corzine himself may face a civil suit from the trustee overseeing MF Global’s liquidation. Meanwhile, he is still delivering huge amounts of money to the Obama campaign. According to the Weekly Standard, Corzine is listed as a top bundler in the most recent Obama 2012 campaign documents, with over half a million dollars to his credit. As far as I can tell, none of it was “vaporized.”

But remember, Barack Obama is the Little Guy’s best defense against Wall Street predators!

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/04/25/good-news-jon-corzines-missing-16-billion-has-been-located/

 

[marvin martian]

$67 million? Bah...PEANUTS! I can trump that easily with Jon Corzine's $1.6 BILLION....

Somehow, the chief investment guru of the Obama Administration, former New Jersey governor, Democrat senator, and top Obama campaign contributor Jon Corzine – managed to lose $1.6 billion of his clients’ money, in the fiery crash of his MF Global corporation. During the extensive congressional investigations, the term “vaporized” was floated.

Apparently “vaporization” doesn’t mean jail time when you make a billion dollars disappear, which is probably for the best, since it would be tough on C-SPAN to cover Congress if they were all in prison.

Now CNN Money brings us the happy news that congressional investigators have tracked down the missing client funds. Unfortunately, the firm’s clients won’t be getting a big chunk of it back any time soon. Six months after MF Global collapsed, customers are said to have recovered about 70 percent of what they’re owed, and some of them might get to 80 percent following a recent bankruptcy court action. Strangely enough, there still isn’t any sign of orange jumpsuits for the persons responsible.

Investigators probing the collapse of bankrupt brokerage MF Global said Tuesday that they have located the $1.6 billion in customer money that had gone missing from the firm.

But just how much of those funds can be returned to the firm’s clients, and who will be held responsible for their misappropriation, remains to be seen.

James Giddens, the trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Global Inc, told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that his team’s analysis of how the money went missing “is substantially concluded.”

“We can trace where the cash and securities in the firm went, and that we’ve done,” Giddens said.

So what happened to the loot?

Roughly $700 million of the missing money is now locked up with MF Global’s subsidiary in the United Kingdom, where Giddens and his team are engaged in litigation to have it returned to U.S. customers. Giddens said he is “reasonably confident” that these funds will be recovered, though he added that it will be a lengthy process with no guarantee of success.

Another $220 million was transferred inadvertently from the accounts of securities customers to those of commodities customers. That money is now in limbo amid a dispute over which customers it belongs to, said Kent Jarrell, a spokesman for Giddens.

The final $680 million or so was transferred to other financial institutions with which MF Global did business, including a substantial portion that went to JPMorgan.

Giddens said his team has “a solid basis for seeking the recovery of some of the funds that were transferred to JPMorgan,” and is engaged in ongoing talks on the issue. JPMorgan did not immediately return a request for comment.

I suppose “limbo” is an improvement over “vaporization.” Maybe they should allow MF Global clients to visit their money periodically in limbo, and gaze longingly at it, while they hold hands and dream of happier times.

Speaking of those orange jumpsuits:

“Crimes have been committed here without a doubt,” said James Koutoulas, an attorney and trader who has been advocating on behalf of MF Global customers.

“We think there are enough facts out here to start arresting people and start filing charges.”

Regulators from the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission “can only seek civil penalties and restitution for customers, but their findings could help form the basis of a criminal case brought by the Justice Department.”

Oh, that’s encouraging. Advice for SEC regulators: do not send Attorney General Eric Holder an email to request that criminal case. He doesn’t always read his emails. He missed a ton of them dealing with some wacky hijinks involving American guns in Mexico.

Jon Corzine himself may face a civil suit from the trustee overseeing MF Global’s liquidation. Meanwhile, he is still delivering huge amounts of money to the Obama campaign. According to the Weekly Standard, Corzine is listed as a top bundler in the most recent Obama 2012 campaign documents, with over half a million dollars to his credit. As far as I can tell, none of it was “vaporized.”

But remember, Barack Obama is the Little Guy’s best defense against Wall Street predators!

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/04/25/good-news-jon-corzines-missing-16-billion-has-been-located/

Good story, but why are they still pretending it was some kind of accident or "mistake" that the money went missing? Corzine stole it, knowingly and intentionally. He makes Bernie Madoff (another good Democrat) look like a kid stealing candy. Corzine is the biggest thief in the history of the nation. He's scum and prison is too good for him...

 

[Barbella]

Good story, but why are they still pretending it was some kind of accident or "mistake" that the money went missing? Corzine stole it, knowingly and intentionally. He makes Bernie Madoff (another good Democrat) look like a kid stealing candy. Corzine is the biggest thief in the history of the nation. He's scum and prison is too good for him...

Marvin, Marvin....the Corzine debacle is proof, once again, that it's who you know....that's all that matters. Got friends in the right places? You got a "get-out-of-jail-free" card...or rather, don't even GO to jail. And how much better can it get for a criminal such as Corzine to have the President as his good buddy?

 

[connieb]

I know $67 million represents merely a halfway decent vacation for the first family, but for some people, that's still a lot of money.

http://www.atr.org/irs-watchdog-million-missing-obamacare-slush-a7886

Well, the full story is that they didn't necessarily 'loose" it but they failed to account for it.

In the end though - failing to account for it means that the overall implementation cost of the program will never be known. Additionally, failing to account for it means that they will not be able to budget approrpiately for the future anticipated costs. See what they left out are the "indirect" costs of the IRS work. They calculated the direct costs - but not the stuff like additional computers, networking, lights, office space, office supplies, etc. They are just absorbing that in their general budget. So, like I said, they won't report the whole cost -which makes me think that this was intentional... so as to purposely misstate the overall cost. Additionally, like I said, not knowing those costs will affect budgeting in the future...

You would THINK that the IRS - you know.. those people who require businesses to allocate overhead for many different tax methods - would actually understand allocating overhead.. and would have done so correctly. But, alas - that you would only think that if you were under the mistaken assumption that the IRS actually knew what they were doing. Unfortunately - you would be wrong on that - and they by far lack any comprehension of actual accounting theory. Our tax dollars at work though.

connie