Posted by Tina
James Runcie, director of the $1.4 trillion financial aid program under former President Obama, was scheduled to testify before Congress when he abruptly resigned his position. His reluctance to answer questions regarding his oversight of the Federal Student Aid (FSA)program is understandable given the evidence of widespread fraud and corruption:
Under Runcie’s leadership there was pervasive fraud and corruption at the FSA, government sources tell Judicial Watch, including skirting federal rules to hire friends and family and hefty off-the-books cash bonuses despite the FSA’s documented transgressions. Just last week the Education Department Inspector General told Congress that the FSA made an astounding $6 billion in improper payments in 2016 alone as part of federal student aid programs. The figure includes $2.21 billion in improper Pell Grant payments and $3.86 billion as part of the Direct Loan program. These are disbursements that either shouldn’t have been made, went to the wrong recipient, were for an incorrect amount or were not properly documented. Each year the problem gets worse, according to Kathleen Tighe, Inspector General for the Education Department. Improper payments for the Federal Direct Loan program swelled from $1.28 billion in 2015 to $3.86 billion in 2016 and from $562 million to $2.21 billion for the federal Pell Grant program, all under Runcie’s leadership.
Mr. Runcie is attempting to position himself as a victim of an administration that wants to, ” dismantle the FSA.” He’s another official that refuses to be responsible for his own work. Mr Runcie was tasked with administering more than $150 billion in loans, grants and work-study funds. You would think that a beginning salary of $176,500 in 2010 that increased to $183,300 when he resigned would have been sufficient compensation for someone dedicated to helping students get a higher education. Apparently not. He also received off the books bonuses of up to $76,000 and skirted hiring rules in order to reward friends and relatives with good paying jobs. It’s the compensation, the transfer of wealth, the redistribution that matters. Doing a good job is irrelevant and unnecessary.
We, the working class, paid the bill for these egregious abuses. What a waste!
Drain the swamp.
Related: A New York City based Latino group, now an organized anti-Trump organization, received $20 million in taxpayer-funded government grants since 2002.
Our government has no business spending taxpayer money on politically motivated groups.
Our representatives and big government proponents, especially those on the left, continue to complain when any attempts are made to make government more fiscally responsible and accountable to the taxpayers. That has to end.
It’s about time we started holding goofernment bureaucrats personally financially liable for their misdeeds.
If repayment were to be made outta their pensions or benefits amounts, perhaps they just might be a bit more careful with the taxpayer dollar.