Billions of Improper Spending in 2009

The White House recently reported that during the fiscal year for 2009, there have been approximately $98 billion worth of improper payments made by the federal government. This is around a 38 percent increase from the $72 billion in improper spending the government witnessed in 2008. What are the causes? Anything can cause such errors ranging from outright fraud to illegible signatures. One item that many suspect to be the culprit behind some the the misdirected money is the $787 billion economic recovery plan passed earlier in the year. The administration says that a sharp crackdown on the payments now will provide a solid base for less mistakes in the future. This most important consequence of this problem seems to be the fact that it will be hard to the country to recover from debt when it loses track of nearly $100 billion dollars in a single year. We can't borrow from China forever, after all. The link to the article is here.