President Trump's budget cuts funding for the LIHEAP program, which pays for heating and air conditioning bills for poor people.  And rich people.  And dead people.  And prisoners. [M]ore than 11,000 dead people and hundreds of prisoners were used as applicants for LIHEAP benefits. More than 1,000 federal employees whose salary exceeded the maximum income threshold also received benefits. In several cases, people living in million-dollar homes paid their utility bills using money from the program, which is run by the Department of Health and Human Services. The GAO report uncovered in Illinois $540 in energy assistance given to an applicant who used the identities of two deceased family members to qualify for the funds. In New Jersey, the program gave $3,200 in assistance to a nursing home whose director claimed to represent eight patients residing in the facility, but whose care was already covered by Medicaid. GAO investigators also posed as prospective...(Read Full Post)