Congress is statutorily obligated to pass a budget by October 1 of each year; yet, as of August 1, 2011, it has been 824 days since the Senate last passed a budget (April 29, 2009). Lawmakers have abdicated their duty by funding the government through multiple, consecutive short-term continuing resolutions. During this protracted period of indolence, the Senate Budget Committee has spent more than $12 million in taxpayer funds on staff salaries and other extraneous expenses, while Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) office has spent in excess of $5 million.
The FAST Solution to Medicare and Medicaid Fraud
Each year, Americans lose tens of billions of their hard-earned tax dollars to Medicare and Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse. The most recent estimates from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) indicate that there was nearly $48 billion in improper payments for Medicare and $22.5 billion in the federal share of improper payments in Medicaid in fiscal year 2010. These figures are just the tip of the iceberg and do not include the countless, undocumented occurrences of theft carried out by organized crime rings aimed at defrauding Medicare, the stealing and selling of beneficiary numbers on the black market, and the creation of front groups and fake doctors’ offices that cheat the system at the taxpayers’ expense.
President Obama’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” Has Lackluster Prospects
On June 13, 2011, President Obama issued an Executive Order mandating a “renewed effort to hunt down misspent tax dollars in every agency and department of this government.” The President announced the so-called “Campaign to Cut Waste” by posting a short video message on youtube.com. Vice-President Joe Biden will lead the campaign, which will initially consolidate or eliminate some 500 federally maintained websites. The video specifically targeted several federal websites as a part of the initial effort, including a website dedicated to the desert tortoise, a page featuring a forest rangers’ folk music group called the Fiddlin’ Foresters, the National Invasive Species Council’s homepage, and another webpage with information about the International Polar Year, which ended in 2008.
Mountain of Government Waste at Yucca
Since the 1970s, the U.S. has been searching for a long-term site to store its nuclear waste. The nation’s spent nuclear fuel, which can remain radioactive for thousands of years, is currently sitting in more than 100 temporary facilities scattered across the country, often within close proximity to highly-populated metropolitan areas. In 2008, after decades of examination and dozens of lawsuits, the Department of Energy (DOE) submitted a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to complete construction and make operational the repository under Yucca Mountain, located in the heart of the Nevada desert, 90 miles north of Las Vegas. After approximately $15 billion has been spent on the project and federal courts across the country have reiterated the federal government’s obligation to store the waste, President Obama is intent on killing the Yucca Mountain repository.
SSDI Funding at Risk
In fiscal year (FY) 2010, the Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI) shelled out approximately $123 billion in benefits to more than 10 million disabled workers and their dependents. Reforms in the SSDI program are long overdue; without them, the fund is expected to be depleted by 2018 according to a June 14, 2011 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. One reason for SSDI’s financial woes is a 63 percent increase in overpayments, from $860 million in FY 2001 to $1.4 billion in FY 2010.
Rampant Waste Reported in NSF
A report was released on May 26, 2011 by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that exposed wasteful spending at the National Science Foundation (NSF). The report found $3 billion in mismanagement, with more than $1.2 billion of NSF’s total budget of $6.9 billion for fiscal year 2010 squandered due to waste, fraud, and duplication.
Don’t Let Trade Adjustment Assistance Block Free Trade
George Bernard Shaw once said that if you laid all the world’s economists end to end, they still would not come to a conclusion. On most issues, from the effects of fiscal stimulus, to ideal tax rates, to the appropriate size of government, he was probably right. For every right-leaning Milton Friedman there has long been an equally leftist John Kenneth Galbraith. But there is one issue on which the vast majority of economists speak with one supportive voice: free trade.
States Need More Flexibility, Fewer Mandates to Manage Medicaid
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.
Don’t Get Fooled Again – Auto Bailouts Still Stink
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 Largesse, Educational Performance Remains Unchanged
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: