I agree with you but with the disclaimer that if honey bees die out it will cause a lot of other invasive crops to die out.
It could be some conspiracy to reduce insecticides, but it is a potential risk to food production.
OT but we just watched Towed in the Hole. Well worth a watch.
Not sure the above factored costs of golf trips as well but since the last few posts were trump friendly infomercials on the topic of selective outrage about govt spending, heres some perspective.
Yazoinks. That’s real tax dollars folks. There should really be rolling audits all the fucking time. From W. to Obama to The Don. Through Dem and Rep Congresses. Just fucking outrageous.
TOP 10 TAKEAWAYS
1. TOTAL MISTAKES
$175 billion in estimated improper payments reported by the 20 largest federal agencies, averaging $14.6 billion per month. Total (FY2004-FY2019): $2.3 trillion.
2. WORST PROGRAMS
Billion-dollar Boondoggles: $121 billion (approximately 69 percent) in improper payments occurred within three program areas – Medicaid, Medicare, and Earned Income Tax Credit.
3. CLAW BACK
Recapture totaled $21.1 billion of the $175 billion improper payments during 2019 — roughly 14 cents on every dollar misspent. Five-year total: $103.6 billion recaptured/ $747.7 billion improperly spent.
4. TOP 10 WORST AGENCIES
5. BAD BOOKKEEPING
Dead people received $871.9 million in mistaken payments. Medicaid, social security payments, federal retirement annuity payouts (pensions), and even farm subsidies were sent to dead recipients.
Root cause: failure to verify death
Four-year total: $2.8 billion
6. ANCIENT AMERICANS
Six million Social Security numbers are active for people aged 112 ; however, only 40 people in the world are known to be older than 112 years of age.
7. WORST TREND
Medicaid and Medicare improper payments soared from $64 billion (2012) to $88.6 billion (2017), and, in 2019, to $103.6 billion. Five-year total: $456 billion
8. BEST TURNAROUND
In 2018, the Education Department overpaid $6 billion to college students receiving PELL grants and student loans. In 2019, improper payments were reduced to $1.1 billion – an 85-percent reduction.
9. IMPROPER INCOME REDISTRIBUTION
$17.4 billion in improper payments by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) within the Earned Income Tax Credit program. 25-percent of all payments were improper. Five-year total: $84.35 billion
10. PURCHASING POWER
What can $175 billion buy?
And the full report:
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Honeybee hive collapse was never presented as an example of a wild species being damaged- it was presented as an economic issue for crops pendent on them.
The ACHS is an industry-funded organization founded to push against any environmental regulation (including advocating for tobacco use):
In 2013, leaked internal financial documents revealed that 58% of the ACSH’s donations in the period from July 1, 2012, to December 20, 2012, came from corporations and large private foundations, many of which themselves had ties to industries. Donors included Chevron, Coca-Cola, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Bayer Cropscience, Procter & Gamble, Syngenta, 3M, McDonald’s and Altria. In addition, the documents revealed that the organization had on numerous occasions directly solicited donations from industry sources on the basis of projected reports on the specific issues in which those companies and industry organizations had such a stake.[1]