Thanks for the reply.
Some of your links in your list duplicated the same fraud. You can find a better list of people who've been caught defrauding the program here:
»
www.usac.org/sl/about/pr ··· nts.aspxThat list is also duplicative, so without going through and counting, I'd say we're looking at less than 40 cases of fraud since 1998. That doesn't seem like oodles to me. That's an average of less than 3/year, out of over 20,000 applications/year. If my Oodles of Noodles only had 3 noodles, I'd feel cheated. But I guess oodles are in the eye of the beholder.
The GAO reports were not all about how inadequate FCC audit practices are. 4 reports in 16 years doesn't seem like a lot to me, but again, I guess the endlessness of the river is in the eye of the beholder. Also, the GAO has repeatedly demonstrated a poor understanding of the program. Some of the reforms they propose would harm the program, not help it. In any case, USAC has hired an outside firm to review its compliance with the latest GAO report (from 2010: »
www.gao.gov/new.items/d10908.pdf). It did take them 2 years to reach this point, though, so you're right about the pace of the FCC response.
"I think you probably somehow benefit financially from these funds." Guilty as charged. Unfortunately, there isn't anyone who knows firsthand how audit-rich the application process is, but has not benefited financially. If you want to hear about the program from anyone who's actually been through the application process, it would have to be someone who's benefited financially.
I can't believe I mistyped the last sentence. What I meant to say was, "Because no one who has been through the application process thinks that the program needs more auditing."
I'm not ignoring problems in the E-Rate. I just don't think fraud in 0.015% of applications is "oodles" or that 4 GAO reports in 16 years is an "endless river." From my perspective, the amount of fraud does not justify the current level of scrutiny.