Fat Corporate Welfare Payouts

By Sarah Maroney

On November 4, 2008 Barack Obama won the battle for the Presidency. On January 20, 2008, he will face many difficult challenges.  The national economic crisis will place a heavy burden on the federal government.  With a $1 trillion budget deficit projected for the fiscal year, and a federal debt spiraling past $10 trillion, President-elect Obama should try to trim some serious fat.

The “Not-So-Big Three” Beg for a Bailout

By Leslie K. Paige

The so-called “Big Three” domestic automakers, General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford were in town to lobby Congress for taxpayer funds to salvage what is left of their businesses.  General Motors, which has entered negative cash-flow territory, is widely predicted to go belly-up unless it receives massive infusions of money. 

New Grace Commission Needed

By David Williams

Just five days after his historic election, President-elect Obama vowed to review every Executive Order signed by President Bush during the past eight years.  He made it clear that he intends to overturn some of them.

The 111th Congress:  House of Card Check

By Leslie K. Paige

As Congress debates how to help an ailing auto industry whose troubles arise partly out of massive, union-stimulated legacy costs, there are expectations that Congress and the new administration will quickly try to pass the so-called “card check” legislation after the inauguration. 

The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars

By Elizabeth Wright

On November 17, 2008 the Washington Post reported that President-elect Obama “wooed” federal employees in seven federal agencies at the behest of American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO President John Gage.  The Post stated that the Obama letters provided “more specifics than he did on the campaign trail” about changes he would make as President at the EPA, the Departments of Homeland Security, HUD, Labor, Veterans Affairs, the Social Security and the Transportation Security Administrations.   

RAC-king Up Medicare Savings

By Leslie K. Paige

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its most recent analysis of improper payments in the Medicare program.  The good news is that vigorous cost recovery programs have helped whittle the percentage of improper payments in the Medicare fee-for-service program from 3.9 percent in FY 2007 to 3.6 percent this year.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.