"Seek zeroes!"

While I'm visiting DeLong's place, let me pass this along. Here's Senator Coburn of the world's greatest deliberative body, the United States Senate:

Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, said he is going to make “waste, abuse, fraud and inefficiencies” in Medicaid a priority issue and will make sure it gets attention in commission meetings. “Nobody else is going to focus on that,” Coburn said. “Nobody else thinks the $300 billion that we waste every year is important. Over 10 years that’s $3 trillion. So we’re going to look at that aspect of it.”

Total Medicaid spending this year is currently pegged at $280 billion. How Coburn can think that all $280 billion that will be spent this year on Medicaid is waste--plus an extra $20 billion in waste even though we do not spend it--is beyond me.

Commenters suggest that Senator Coburn thinks spending *any* money on Medicaid is waste, but I believe that gives him too much credit. He simply does not know what he is talking about.

Ladies and gentlemen, that was Senator Coburn, of the United States Senate.