March, 2008

A Monthly Dispatch from Citizens Against Government Waste
Rhetorical Flim-Flam
by: Alexa Moutevelis
In the wake of the March 13 vote on a one-year moratorium on congressional earmarks, it is time for a post-mortem on who said what in the heat of the battle. The amendment, offered by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to the fiscal year 2009 budget resolution, failed by a vote of 29-71. But the earmark fight is far from over; the comments made by the appropriations cardinals and various earmark apologists are fodder for future skirmishes.
Federal Government: The Ideal Tenant?
by: Katelynn Eckert
Apparently, the federal government has an aversion to commitment, at least in terms of property. According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on January 24, 2008, for the first time in history the federal government is predicted to lease more property than it owns. Based upon information gathered from the General Services Administration (GSA), which handles many of the government's leases, from 2003 to 2006, federally-leased space increased from 160 million square feet to 172 million square feet; conversely, federally-owned space decreased from 180 million square feet to 174 million square feet
Corn Ethanol is Not a Panacea
by: Elizabeth Wright
All is not rosy with corn ethanol and other biofuels, according to a February 7 Scientific American online article. The article reported on the release of two new research studies that show that converting corn to ethanol is leading to increased clearing of the Amazon rainforest and higher costs of food. Plus, for those who argue that global warming is man-made, the researchers highlighted in the Scientific American article report that corn ethanol production may be making the situation worse.
"Emergency" Supplementals
by: Katelynn Eckert
???Hope for the best, but plan for the worst??? is the approach most Americans try to take when it comes to setting aside funds for a rainy day. For the government, however, national emergencies, and the supplemental appropriations bills that tend to accompany these emergencies, have become just another excuse to spend money on non-emergency, routine projects and favored pork-barrel items that failed to win funding through the normal appropriations process.