U.S. Auditors Say Duplicate Programs Cost Billions

In 2007, the U.S. Agriculture Department paid $1.1 billion in farm subsidies to 170,000 dead people. Fifteen federal agencies now oversee 30 food laws, and at least four departments compete to administer 80 economic development programs.

The Government Accountability Office released a 345-page report today combing the federal catalog of government programs to uncover what it said was evidence of waste and duplication that cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year.