The White House has admitted that the federal government made $98 billion in "improper" payments in fiscal 2009. Some of the "improper" payments were due to "misdirected" payments while others were out and out fraud.

Porkapalooza on steroids!!

Peter Orzag, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget can't say for sure how much was due to fraud or, for that matter, how much of the "improper" payments came from the $787 billion stimulus package.

So how is the administration going to address the problem? This coming week there will be an executive order promoting transparency, a strengthening of accountability and incentives to improve the government payment process.

My, my, my, where have we heard those goals before?

Not laughing yet? Maybe this will do it.

Mr. Orzag, whose admission that this year's "improper" payments were 37.5% higher than those of 2008 under the Bush administration, credits the higher total to "improved detection through stricter and expanding accounting methods." Translated...the more mistakes we find the better the oversight is.

Are you holding your aching sides yet?

Silly us. We thought oversight was supposed to stop the mistakes.

Apparently, in Washington-speak for a country heading to the brink of bankruptcy on a skateboard it's great news that we're finding higher incorrect payments of taxpayers' money.

Next year, Mr. Orzag will probably throw a party if Washington can top this year's total.

Taxpayers, you have to laugh otherwise you'll join us in the loony bin!