Labor Dept. Estimates $7.1 Billion in Overpayments to Unemployed

In 2009, there were $7.1 Billion made in over payments to the unemployed which was almost a $3B rise from 2008? Are we supposed to believe that no one is tracking the unemployment benefit payments? The fact of the matter is that is exactly what is happening.

When a person becomes unemployed, they have to go to the local unemployment office where they are given the necessary paperwork to start their search for a job along with a log sheet of the two jobs they are to look for each week. You read that right -- two (2) jobs a week. After that, the unemployed can file weekly on line. When the first round of benefits run out, they file a form on line to qualify for more without ever seeing a live person. Then they can do it again for additional benefits. Does anyone check the two places they are supposed to go each week looking for a job? In over a year an individual we know was never questioned about where he was looking for work. They kept a log but how would unemployment know that? They never checked or asked to see the log. Yet almost every week his pay was in the bank.

To pay out over $7.1B of our tax dollars and not seeming to be concerned is flat out wrong. In 2008 the fact they paid out over $4.2B in over payments should have set off all kinds of red flags. Believe we have some of the most incompetent federal agencies ever in this Country that now waste billions not millions of dollars.

If you have ever tried to call an agency in Washington, you will know what is meant by the runaround as you are passed from one person to another. My recent experience was with the Census Bureau. All I wanted to know is why when I filled out the long form for the census did I get a short form to fill out as well? Seemed like a simple question but was I wrong. Received some of the dumbest answers until I finally was put in touch with a young man who explained the long form was now sent out every year as a survey to help local communities get their necessary funds but the short form was the one required by law every ten years.

One young man out of nine before him was able to answer my question and from the sound of his voice he was probably 20-30 years younger than the people I was talking with who didn't have a clue. He was also articulate which could not be said for several of those who answered the phone.
The more affirmative action has taken over various agencies of the Federal Government where people are rewarded based on the color of their skin or gender not on their qualifications, it has made an inefficient system a lot worse. How do you pay $7.1B in over payments if you have qualified people working in the system? You don't which is why the overpayment.

A lot of federal workers don't care if they do the job or not as long as pay and benefits come in every two weeks. A lot of them also belong to the Federal Unions to make sure no one gets on them for not doing their job. Vicious cycle that has gotten worse over the years.

Who is the one organization still hiring? It is the Federal Government which should be under a hiring freeze as they have way too many people as it is to do an efficient job.

The cost cutters may want to put the Labor Department on this list as the first agency to look at for costing cutting. We would like to recommend that $7.1B could be saved with an efficient system.

Labor Dept. Estimates $7.1 Billion in Overpayments to Unemployed

Overpayment Figure Increases From $4.2 Billion the Previous Year

By ALICE GOMSTYN ABC NEWS Business Unit
July 9, 2010

While many Americans are feeling the pain of expired unemployment benefits, some have gotten a good chunk more than they were legally eligible for.

Congress will not extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.

{reliminary estimates released by the U.S. Department of Labor find that, in 2009, states made more than $7.1 billion in overpayments in unemployment insurance, up from $4.2 billion the year before. The total amount of unemployment benefits paid in 2009 was $76.8 billion, compared to $41.6 billion in 2008.

Fraud accounted for $1.55 billion in estimated overpayments last year, while errors by state agencies were blamed for $2.27 billion, according to the Labor Department. The department's final report will be released next month.

Some of the overpayments likely can be traced back to the overwhelming workloads facing state employment agencies during the recession, said George Wentworth, a policy analyst for the National Employment Law Project.

"You've got a system that's been under siege like the unemployment insurance system has been for the last two years," Wentworth said. "You've got a lot of new staff coming into the system, there's been a lot of federal extensions [to unemployment insurance benefits] that have had to be programmed in and so on. There's just been a lot of change that states have had to handle. ... I just think the volume and the new staff have made the systems more susceptible to error."

The newly-unemployed, meanwhile, have found themselves frustrated when trying to reach out to state officials for help in properly filling out their claims.
"In 2009, it was a fairly regularly event to see different states' call centers basically reaching maximum capacity where people would not be able to get through for hours or days at a time," Wentworth said.

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