I have written a number of articles on the Pigford Settlement. (type ‘pigford’ in the search space above to read details). When Andrew Breitbart broke the story in 2010, he was attacked by pretty much everyone. Well, Andrew has been vindicated–by the New York Times of all people.

Breitbart.com reported on Friday that the New York Times reported that U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has likely enabled massive fraud in the Pigford series of legal settlements, in which black, Hispanic, female and Native American farmers have claimed to be victims of past discrimination.

The cost of the settlements could exceed $4.4 billion, with lawyers expected to gain more than $130 million in fees,

The article at Breitbart reports:

As president, Obama continued to support payouts for new groups of claimants while abandoning a review process that had been used to fight fraud. The aim was “buying the support” of minorities, according to the Times, while middlemen created a “cottage industry” in defrauding the government.

That’s our tax money that is being paid out in order to buy support for someone we may not necessarily support. Great.

The article further reports:

Much of the fraud was enabled by the Clinton and Obama administrations, and by members of Congress seeking to reward special interests. Then-Sen. Obama sponsored new Pigford legislation in 2007, while Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) threatened in 2009 to lead protests against the administration if it did not bend to the wishes of Hispanic claimants. 

Meanwhile, whole families, including young children, filed claims for past discrimination to reap $50,000 each in cash payouts. As yet, Congress has failed to investigate Pigford.

As Americans we have two choices–go broke as the tax man takes more and more of our hard-earned dollars or elect people to government who have some respect for the money the taxpayers work hard to earn. Ultimately, it is up to us.