A study by the House Budget Committee has identified massive waste of taxpayers' dollars in a variety of government programs, prompting House hearings later this month.

• The study found what it called an appalling amount of waste in agencies responsible for helping poor people -- including $1 billion in fraud alone in the Supplemental Security Income program.

• Medicare made "massive overpayments" totaling $12.6 billion in one year.

• The Department of Housing and Urban Development wasted $18 billion and let public housing neighborhoods "fester with crime and drugs," the study says.

• The figures are based on inspector general and General Accounting Office investigations, as well as independent sources.

The hearings will be held by Rep. John Kasich's (R-Ohio) Budget Committee. The Chairman has created a website that encourages people to report government waste and abuse in their local communities (http://www.house.gov/budget).

A spokesman for Kasich said the hearings are designed to be an "exercise in shame" to showcase the "large amounts of money flushed down the drain."

Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) warned that if department heads "are going to come before the House again and again and claim that it is impossible to find even one cent of waste, fraud and abuse in their departments, then I will personally go down to their office with a fine-tooth comb and show them where to look."

Source: Audrey Hudson, "Billions Wasted by Government, Study Shows," Washington Times, January 5, 2000.