COMPUTER GEEKS (I personally think they are GENIUSES)

To start off, I have to say that I absolutely hate the term “Geek.” I think it is derogatory and mean! We need to come up with something nicer like maybe Geni (like Jedi) and (short for genius).

Anyway, back to my topic.

You know those people who love computers so much that they know their way around a computer so well that it would blow the everyday person’s mind! Some of them spend hours and hours of their time and energy trying to break into websites, trying to spread viruses, etc. just to see if they can.

I have an idea!

When they get caught and many of them do. Why not have the state and federal governments hire them?

Think of what they could do? They could quite possibly wipe out Medicare fraud, Social Security fraud, Welfare fraud, Medicaid fraud, and the list goes on.

We could use their brilliance to find those who are cheating our systems. 

Just read the newspaper or watch the TV stories: Doctor So and So caught, accused of cheating Medicare out of millions. Developing story, Social Security checks being sent to people no longer alive.

My mind just begins to swirl with the possibilities that these “geniuses” could do to clean up the fraud within our various programs.

Now don’t go getting all ACLU on me because if you are a member of the ACLU, you are a citizen of this country and you are paying taxes and thus you are paying into these programs, so we are talking about YOUR tax dollars, too.

I am NOT talking about checking Mr. Smith or Mrs. Jones who gets a monthly check. I am NOT, NO WAY, NO HOW, advocating going after the little guy. I want the BIG FISH, the ones who are raking in huge sums of illegal money.

Just think what these geniuses could do with cross-checking the large sums of money being sent to ONE doctor or ONE address or ONE whatever. The verification of social security numbers (or lack thereof) and the “same address” verification of money from possibly several different agencies being sent to one location that could very well ferret out these multi-million dollar swindles that are being perpetrated on the citizens of this country? 

These computer “geniuses” are awesome at what they do with computers and wouldn’t it be fantastic to have them clean up the fraud and waste that our bureaucratic government can’t or won’t do? We could give them a job with great pay and great benefits and when they catch a BIG FRAUD, give them a big bonus!!!

First, and foremost, I think we would have to ensure that they aren’t put into a governmental box with a 9-5 job, they would need the “mental” freedom that they are accustomed to (maybe something similar to the Google work environment?).

We could have a hotline “Leaks to Geeks” where tips could be turned in and investigated.

As for me, I think that getting these geniuses to work for us instead of against us, or whatever they are against, could reap big rewards. And so the journey begins...