LETTER: Nevada pols shouldn’t dismiss news of welfare fraud

According to a Feb. 20 article by the Review-Journal’s Colton Lochhead, an audit found that Nevada wrongfully paid $60 million for Medicaid care and $9.5 million for food stamp assistance. Officials with the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services believe these estimates to be conservative.

Quarterly data for 50 households discovered that 11 (22 percent) had unreported income. Failing to report such income constitutes fraud. Yet Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, said she “has concerns” about setting up systems to recoup this taxpayer money from the recipients because that money never goes directly to the recipients. What type of logic is that?

The state paid for health care and food that these people who committed fraud should have paid for themselves. These people owe the state of Nevada $70 million and probably should be prosecuted. Folks such as Assemblywoman Carlton have a fiduciary duty to the taxpayers they represent. Yet she seems to feel no duty to safeguard taxpayer money. Why not just invite more fraud, theft and improper waste of our taxes?

Some voters such as me are dissatisfied with the general Republican Party agenda. However, I’m not sure I don’t believe they are the lesser of two evils if Assemblywoman Carlton is representative of the Democratic outlook on social program funding.