Three years after the deadly pandemic brought the United States to a screeching halt — shutting down businesses, industries, government offices, schools and much of daily life as we had known it — memories of how terrible those days were have begun to fade a little.
Before politicians and the general public become too outraged over reports of the staggering amount of fraud in federal COVID-19 relief programs, we should remember the enormous need in those dark months when businesses were in danger of closing for good and people thrown out of work were scrambling to take care of themselves and their families.
Yes, recent reports that billions of dollars of federal COVID-19 funds were stolen or misspent are shocking and appalling. A recent report from The Associated Press says that fraudsters may have stolen more than $280 billion in COVID relief aid, while as much as another $123 billion was wasted or used wrongly.
