WasteWatcher - 2011, June
June, 2011
WasteWatcher
A Monthly Dispatch from Citizens Against Government Waste
States Need More Flexibility, Fewer Mandates to Manage Medicaid
by: Erica Gordon
Lawmakers are scrambling to address the staggering $14.29 trillion national debt and a vote to raise the debt ceiling is fast approaching. While legislators negotiate cuts to discretionary spending, they must also consider making significant reforms to the nation’s growing entitlement programs.
Congress and GSE Reform: “Ready, Fire, Aim”?
by: Leslie Paige
Home sales are still abysmal and are expected to fall further. Foreclosures continue unabated, no end in sight. According to RealtyTrac, “there are 872,000 homes that have been repossessed by lenders, but have yet to be sold.” Sales of distressed homes, properties already owned by banks or in some stage of foreclosure, have slipped lower, and there is talk among the financial services experts of a double dip in the housing market.
USPS in Disarray
by: Sean Kennedy
The problems facing the United States Postal Service (USPS) are many and severe. The Postal Service was recently hit with a political scandal, when five supervisors were charged with taking bribes consisting of cash, cars, drinks, and lap dances. In return, the supervisors from Michigan and Ohio directed vehicle maintenance work worth $13 million to a contractor. A manager of a postal-vehicle center in Detroit received “thousands of dollars in drinks and lap dances at a local strip club, more than $8,000 in free work done on a relative's truck, and a $3,000 paver patio installed in the manager’s backyard” in addition to a weekly visit from a prostitute, paid for by the contractor.
Don’t Get Fooled Again – Auto Bailouts Still Stink
by: Luke Gelber
On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) unveiled a video that can only be described as the first Obama-for-President advertisement of the 2012 election cycle. The video purports to skewer likely presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Newt Gingrich over their opposition to the auto industry bailouts of 2009. Since General Motors (GM) and Chrysler have graciously paid back some of the money that taxpayers were forced to loan to them two years ago, Democrats are seizing this opportunity to try to make critics of the bailouts look bad. In so doing, they ignore the case against bailing out private companies, misleading claims by Chrysler, and the remaining losses that will come from the taxpayers’ investment in GM.
Despite Federal Largess, Educational Performance Remains Unchanged
by: P.J. Austin
On May 16, President Obama traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to deliver the commencement address for graduates of Booker T. Washington High School. The school has had notable improvements in academic performance, and won the administration’s Race to the Top Commencement Challenge. The president seemed to use the opportunity to arrogate some credit for the students’ accomplishments:
