Ten Worst Government Programs

Human Events, Mar 8, 2004

1. Medicare Prescription Drug Entitlement

Score: 83

Started when: 2003

By whom: President Bush and a Republican Congress.

Why: Enacted in response to an explosion in prescription drug use and prices, and in the belief it would be political popular among seniors.

What it does: Makes seniors dependent on the federal government for their medicines. Beginning in 2006, the program will provide prescription drug coverage for even the wealthiest seniors. The government will pay 75% of the first $2,500 in drug costs for seniors, minus a $250 deductible. It will also pay 95% of annual catastrophic drug costs once beneficiaries have paid $3,600 out of pocket. But seniors will have to pay for all drug costs in between, unless Congress fills this "coverage gap," which was put in the bill to allow Congress to deceive voters about this program's true long-term cost.

How much: Although enacted on the premise it would cost "only" $430 billion over ten years, the White House and Congressional Budget Office have already upped that to $540 billion.

Constitutional provision: When asked to cite the constitutional language authorizing a prescription drug program, Medicare spokeswoman Kathleen Dziak pointed to an agency document that gave the history and public policy rationale for Medicare, but not its constitutional authority.

2. Planned Parenthood Funding

Score: 78

Started when: 1970

By whom: President Nixon and a Democratic Congress.

Why: To subsidize domestic birth control and pregnancy testing, but supposedly not abortion.

What it does: Health and Human Services funds nearly 5,000 family planning clinics around the country, some of which are operated by Planned Parenthood. It also funds Planned Parenthood through Medicaid grants and Social Services block grants. The Washington Times reported in 1997 that of the approximately five million women who visit HHS clinics each year, more than 1.2 million are adolescent girls. Because money is fungible, HHS in effect not only subsidizes the distribution of birth control to teenage girls but also abortions. In addition to running HHS family planning clinics, Planned Parenthood is the nation's leading abortion provider.

Cost: In 2001, according to the General Accounting Office, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates received $162 million in federal funding.

Constitutional provision: "We're part of the Executive Branch, and the part of the Constitution that establishes the Executive Branch," said HHS spokesman Steve Barber.

3. United Nations Funding

Score: 61

Started when: 1945

By whom: President Truman in conjunction with a Democratic Senate, which ratified the UN treaty, and a Democratic House, which together with the Senate, approved the United Nations Participation Act that allowed for funding.

Why: Says the UN Charter: "To maintain international peace and security .. .to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations."

What it does: The UN provides a forum for nations to discuss international problems, propose treaties, and run agencies that advance an internationalist-socialist agenda-while spewing propaganda against the United States. The Security Council can approve resolutions calling for the use of "international" military force. Five permanent members have a veto over Security Council resolutions: Russia, Britain, France, China and the United States. In 1950, President Truman took the U.S. to war in Korea on the strength of a U.N. resolution but lacking authorization from the U.S. Congress.

Cost: In 2003, the U.S. paid $279 million in dues to the UN's regular budget, 22% of the total-down from the previous requirement of 25%. The full U.S. contribution to U.N. activities is far larger, however. Nile Gardiner and Baker Spring of the Heritage Foundation report: 'Total U.S. contributions to the U.N. system in 2001 totaled $3.5 billion."

Constitutional provision: A State Department spokeswoman pointed to the treaty-making authority the President shares with the Senate.

4. Farm Subsidies

Score: 60

Started when: 1929.

By whom: President Hoover.

Why: Farmers, asked to increase output during World War I, kept doing so after the war, causing prices to plummet in the 1920s. To "solve" the problem, Congress enacted the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929, which established the $500 million Federal Farm Board to buy crops and thus stabilize prices for grain and cotton. This encouraged farmers to produce even more, causing prices to plummet again, inspiring further government subsidies.

What it does: Farm subsidies are intended to stabilize food prices, but actually make farming a highly regulated and often unprofitable profession while exacerbating rural poverty in countries where farmers can't compete with subsidized American crops. After the 1929 legislation paid farmers to grow crops, the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act-part of FDR's New Deal-tried to solve the resulting problems by paying farmers not to grow crops. The Agricultural Act of 1937 created a system of price supports for various commodities. The last attempt to abolish the system-the Freedom to Farm Act of 1996-was dismantled by the 2002 farm bill, signed by President Bush.