Gallup; Government Wastes 51 Percent of Taxes

Last night on "The O'Reilly Factor" Bill O'Reilly introduced his audience to the $16 muffin. He went on to cite other examples of governmental extravagance that illustrated not so much incompetence to handle money but an almost pathological distain for the taxpayers. The examples he sited were, in addition to the muffin, included $52 per person cost for coffee beaks and $90,000 spent on food and refreshments at a emergency response conference. As stated these examples demonstrate not so much financial ineptitude but rather concessions of largess to a pampered civil service. Maybe O'Reilly is on to something big. According to a recent Gallup poll Americans think the govermnent wastes 51 cents of each dollar it spends. This is the first Gallup poll in which the respondents put waste above 50 percent. It reached a low of 38 percent in 1986 during the Reagan years.