The CVC - Not a Capitol Idea
by: Jessica Shoemaker

With 580,000 square feet, three underground stories, and space three-quarters the size of the Capitol itself, the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) is a monument to Congress's own excess. It was recently announced that the project is experiencing yet another cost increase and construction delay. On February 15, an official from the Government Accountability Office testified that the cost of the CVC will reach $584 million, 120 percent more than the original estimate. Originally scheduled for completion in time for the 2005 presidential inauguration, the Architect of the Capitol (AoC) has estimated that the CVC will not be open to the public until April 2007 at the earliest.

Congress Not Seeing Drug War Waste
by: Courtney Mickman

A core program of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (???Campaign???) which was created to ???educate and enable youth to reject illegal drugs, especially marijuana and inhalants.??? The Campaign has wasted more than $2 billion over five years on unsuccessful propaganda campaigns that have violated federal advertising laws.