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Your tax dollars at work ... and wasted

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    Sen Tom Coburn finds finds wasteful spending in government job training program in Oklahoma and across the country

  • Duration 5:23
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This I could -- -- come right out of your ears a new report shows programs are supposed to help Americans get jobs are actually costing you a fortune.

-- Government Accountability Office study found the taxpayers are -- eighteen.

Billion dollars on job -- programs and get this.

There is no evidence that these job training programs -- -- work.

So what has congress done to fix those programs Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn says nothing.

Why we asked about the results of this brand new study.

I see -- gives the okay you have a new report out on job training programs and it focuses in particular Oklahoma.

I think going.

Well we're so we're gonna spend almost 200 million dollars of American taxpayers there this year we have forty programs that are operating 47.

We have one town of 161000 people we have seventeen separate federal job training programs and that to help.

You know this all started when the -- forced the GAO to tell us what we're duplicating.

So I sent staff out we -- it's over seventy site visits in the state.

We collected all the information we interviewed people who work and and -- everybody said job -- his job corps was told by the Department of Labor here do not talk percent of the coverage people.

So everybody -- job corps was interviewed.

And that we assistant draw the group and -- -- -- uniform survey where they can they attributing portion -- -- we talked people who have been gone through the system.

Talk to people who have positive out of the system and people who fail and basically.

It's about us.

Now there's some of the stuff that Oklahoma does by itself that doesn't have federal government involvement and it is very effective.

And the problem isn't the people who work in the grant program problem is there's there's so many rules and regulations and no metrics.

That -- waste a 186 million dollars a year.

-- now that had an AC tonight is that nationwide now let's kiss and Obama -- -- here's the total numbers nationwide.

47 job training programs nine different agencies eighteen point nine billion dollars a year.

No metrics.

All of them overlapping -- art.

In Oklahoma and even I realizes implication.

Thinks it shouldn't be done that we don't need.

What about the job other jobs available for those who go through these programs.

Sometimes.

But we don't have any metrics -- and nobody knows how to measure that Oklahoma has a four point 7% unemployment rate so we'd like to have more people trained.

For some of the jobs that are out there.

But there's no metric to measure that except through our -- system in this programs that we run state run to have no federal involvement whatsoever and they're very well -- -- So we have some metrics on those.

But we have none on the federal.

And -- the workforce investment act requires that you cannot go after metrics.

In creating jobs the congress legislated.

That you can.

So he -- so he could give him an incredible waste of money in duplicative programs we do and -- we do have and we can have programs than for we have job we have that people trained for jobs don't exist.

Which is very Smart.

And apparently no one's watching this except for you.

Well I think other people watch and it's -- the question is this will that it is essentially GAO started but -- all these reports on duplication with the third and final one will come out next year next February.

We've not passed one bill.

In congress that eliminates any of the 200 billion dollars worth of duplication -- ask yourself why.

Who would make more sense to -- giving -- my idea wouldn't make more sense to give a tax credit.

-- employer or some sort of actually give that person wants to train someone for a particular job -- some with completes a training program.

People are -- some sort of tax -- of David Stone washed and then the person actually has a job -- actually created magic train someone for spilled into the.

Sure that we and that some of the ideas that are floating around but the fact is this it's not a federal responsibility.

So if you read the constitution where is it that we get the authority to take money from you -- taxpayer.

Bring it up here consume 30% of it sends 70% of that back and 47 different programs eighteen billion dollars with tons of rules and regulations that handicapped the very people that wanna try to help people.

Get a job.

Where we get that authority we have now.

So we've expanded the federal -- and now here's the little side story there's fifty job training programs for people -- to say.

And another four billion dollars so we're not it's not just 47 -- 97 jobs programs training programs that we him.

We do not know what we're doing and what -- Virginia -- in the house this upcoming committee chairman on labor.

Has taken 33 of those programs and put him in the war.

It's passed out of committee the reason they're not the monster they no we won't do anything on some of them you could save nine billion dollars a year.

If you reformed the job training programs in this country put metrics on and let the states run -- -- the states accountable pull the money back they're not run -- make -- have metrics.

Nine billion dollar you can cut the cost in half which means maybe we won't have to lay off or not by the next five.

For the next ship why wouldn't we do that.

Because we're more interested in political outcomes than we aren't fixed in the real problems -- --