Dan Coats: “it is week 45 of ``Waste of the Week,'' where I have been here talking about waste, fraud, and abuse, and trying to find…”

“it is week 45 of ``Waste of the Week,'' where I have been here talking about waste, fraud, and abuse, and trying to find ways to save taxpayers' dollars. As I have said a number of times, our efforts since 2010 are to go big to address the real fiscal situation that this country is dealing with, the runaway entitlements, the ever-shrinking discretionary pot, and the deficit spending, leading to borrowing that has taken us from $10.7 trillion just in my first term here now in six years--from $10.7 trillion--to $19.2 trillion. I don't think any of us can contemplate what $19.2 trillion really means. But what it means in terms of its impact and effect is that we are passing on to future generations a debt that they will not be able to repay without serious consequences to our economy and serious consequences to their pocketbooks. That is a speech for another time. ``Waste of the Week'' is simply an attempt, since we have not been able to address the larger issue, to look at documented examples, exposed by inspector generals, the Government Accountability Office, and other agencies of clear waste, fraud, and abuse that has used taxpayers' dollars in an improper way. So this 45th edition now highlights close to $170 billion, exceeding our goal of $100 billion considerably and with no end in sight.…”