You won’t hear this too often, but I actually have to commend a politician for coming UP with a good idea.  I normally stay away from political issues here on Redneck Latte Ravings, but this is just too good to pass UP.

We’ve been paying dead people. 

The US government has issued checks to over 20,000 people who are dead.

Dead, that’s right, casters in the air, bit the dust, bought the farm, asleep with Jesus, D-E-A-D dead!

And it’s added UP to $180 MILLION!

So, President Obama has come UP with a “do not pay” list.  It’s just a simple idea to save the tax payers’ money.  Once it is UP and running, and of course, we’re dealing with the government – bids – contracts – bull$hit, and all – so who knows when that will be, all agencies sending out checks will have to check the list before they put the check in the mail. 

“We’re making sure that payments no longer go to the deceased — it sounds ridiculous even to say it,” said  Vice President Joe (always check the mike first ) Biden in describing the database.

The new list not only includes the newly dead, but contractors who’ve fallen behind in their payments or landed in jail, and companies that have been suspended or otherwise declared ineligible for government work.

“This stuff seems obvious on its face,” Biden acknowledged. “The voters will go, ‘My God, isn’t that happening already?’”

There’s already a list – the Social Security Administration does have what it calls a “Death Master File”.  But not every agency checks it before mailing out the checks.  President Barack Obama on Friday signed an order that  would centralize the information from several sources.  Sort of a “Checkland Security”. 

The figures on payments to the deceased came from the White House Office of Management and Budget, which also says checks went to 14,000 convicted felons, both in jail and on the run. The three-year total there: $230 million.

The White House guesses that improper payments of all kinds — from outright fraud to checks to inmates to simply mistyped pay stubs — totaled $110 billion in 2009.

“We think we have the tools now to take a real bite out of this,” Biden said.

Well, let’s hope so.  I’d hate to think our government wastes my hard earned money!