WasteWatcher - 2011, February
February, 2011
WasteWatcher
A Monthly Dispatch from Citizens Against Government Waste
Victory!
by: David E. Williams
On February 16, 2011 taxpayers and the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) scored a major victory when the House of Representatives voted 233-198 to kill funding for the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter as part of H.R. 1, the Full-Year Continuing Resolution (CR) for fiscal year (FY) 2011. The CR, which cut $100 billion from President Obama’s FY 2011 budget (equal to $61 billion from fiscal year 2010 approved spending levels), was approved by a vote of 235-189. The CR contained 61 spending cuts worth $9.9 billion were either identical or similar to recommendations in CAGW’s Prime Cuts.
Future of Earmarks Remains Vague
by: Sean Kennedy
During his January 25, 2011 State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama declared his intention of vetoing any legislation that reaches his desk containing earmarks. Having worked on the issue for 22 years, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) wholeheartedly applauded this announcement.
Weatherization--More Money, Blowin' in the Wind
by: Leslie K. Paige
February 17, 2011 marked the two-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the so-called stimulus package. Needless to say, the contrived celebratory fanfare that characterized the one-year anniversary last year has now given way to the dull realization that the $862 billion program has been an abject failure. The oft-repeated promise that the stimulus money would be tracked to the very last dime has become the butt of late-night talk shows and taxpayers are left to wonder where all the money went.
Four Myths about the Export-Import Bank
by: Luke Gelber
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is an independent government agency founded in 1934 in an effort to encourage U.S. exports. In 2010, Ex-Im Bank provided $24.4 billion in taxpayer backed direct loans, guarantees, and export-credit insurance to private firms and foreign governments. Whatever its original intent may have been, today Ex-Im Bank is an obvious example of corporate welfare, one that transfers wealth from all Americans for the benefit of politically-connected corporations. Denying Ex-Im Bank’s charter, which is up for renewal in 2011, would eradicate a regressive, wasteful institution whose time has passed.
Blackmail to Avoid Blackouts is Not Sound Policy
by: Erica Gordon
Imagine that you’re settling in to watch your favorite must-see-TV when your station de jour abruptly goes black. You suddenly can’t watch the big game, or the American Idol finale or (fill in your “can’t-live-without-it” show here). How could this possibly happen? You try rebooting your cable box as you frantically flip through the TV guide to make sure it’s really Super Bowl Sunday.
