The WasteWatcher
The Trouble with BLS’s Pliable Green Jobs Definition
In 2009, when Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus), economists and pundits alike scoffed at the Obama administration’s estimates of the number of jobs that the bill had “created or saved.” Greg Mankiw, Harvard...
Though Some Cuts Made, Farm Bill is still Flush with Waste
On June 21, 2012, the Senate voted 64-35 in favor of S. 3240, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, which would cut the deficit by $23.6 billion over a ten year period. At first glance this seems like a lot of money, until you realize...
Trivial Resolutions Come at a High Cost to Taxpayers
According to a June 2012 Gallup poll, 79 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job. Perhaps this is because legislation passed by members of Congress is all too often a reflection of their parochial rather than...
Farm Bill Should Buy the Farm
When is $24 billion not a lot of money? When it represents all the savings taxpayers can expect from the supposedly new-and-improved Farm Bill, formally known as S. 3240, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, which may reach the Senate...
Gulp! Mayor Bloomberg’s Ban on Large Sodas is Hard to Swallow
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg believes that the local government should crack down to help those with a coke addiction…but he’s not talking about drug addicts. On May 31, 2012, Mayor Bloomberg proposed banning the sale of large-sized sodas,...
Government Waste Is Alive And Well In West Virginia
In 2009, the state of West Virginia was granted $126,323,296 instimulus funding for the “West Virginia Statewide Broadband Infrastructure Project” to increase broadband access in public facilities including schools, libraries, and hospitals i
Round 3: Net Neutrality Debate Continues
Even as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has yet to weigh in on the Verizon case against the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCCs) net neutrality 2010 Report and Order on Preserving the Open Internet (FCC 10-210),...
Reform the Senate Office Allowance System
A culture of inefficient government spending is endemic in Washington, D.C. However, such behavior is particularly frustrating for taxpayers when the rare example of spending less money produces an unsatisfactory outcome.
Higher Education: The Next Bubble
The nation’s outstanding student loan balance climbed to more than $1 trillion in May, which includes $460.2 billion held by the federal government. If the higher education bubble bursts, taxpayers will have to clean up the mess.
Tobacco Excise Taxes Burn Down Federal Revenues
An April 2012 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that excise tax increases on certain tobacco products have resulted in dramatic shifts by manufacturers and consumers toward lower tax products. Specifically, the implementation of...
Californians Beware: Proposition 29 is Government Waste at its Finest
In this critical election year, Americans will not only cast their votes for elected officials at all levels of government including President of the United States; they will also decide on several state ballot initiatives. Some of these votes will...
House Passes Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act
Cybersecurity has been a very prevalent issue on Capitol Hill recently with legislation such as The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and