Good news may be on the horizon for car owners across the country, with a possible roll-back of a technology mandate that would have forced car manufacturers to install a vehicle-to-vehicle device that has already been outstripped by new technologies. On November 1, 2017 U.S. News and World Reports stated that the Office of Management […]
Security Weaknesses in Pentagon Excess Property Program
The Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) handles the management of logistical support for the military. It also runs the 1033 program, which transfers excess Department of Defense (DOD) property to federal, tribal, state, and local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) across the United States and its territories. Since its inception, this program has transferred more than $6 billion worth of DOD property to participating LEAs.
Congress Reacts to Largest Federal Healthcare Fraud Enforcement Action
On Thursday, July 13, 2017, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced in a press release the largest healthcare fraud enforcement action in its history. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, M.D., announced the takedown, in which over 412 individuals were found responsible for $1.3 billion in fraud losses.
The Dangers of Single-Payer Healthcare
CAGW’s June 2017 Porker of the Month was Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who earned the “honor” in part due to his outspoken and unwavering support of the single-payer healthcare system. Sen. Sanders touts the system as the “morally principled” option; in reality, it would create long waiting times, cause a massive increase in taxes, and allow bureaucrats in Washington to make decisions that ought to be made between doctors and patients.
ATC Privatization Would Bring U.S. Airport Industry to New Heights
On June 5, 2017 President Donald Trump announced his proposal to privatize the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system as part of a broader plan to drastically improve American infrastructure. Approximately 932 million Americans took to the sky in 2016, more than the air traffic of China, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom combined. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is already charged with overseeing the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s Hartfield-Jackson International Airport, and the fourth-busiest, Los Angeles International Airport.
Waste in the State Department
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has detailed the federal government’s failure to keep up with modernizing technology for decades. As far back as 1984, the Grace Commission found that the federal government’s computer systems were outdated and incompatible, and much more needed to be done to upgrade and improve the efficiency of federal information technology (IT). Yet, federal agencies continue to waste taxpayer dollars on IT systems that are either antiquated or fail to deliver.
Who is Elizabeth MacDonough and Why is She Important?
Elizabeth MacDonough’s job doesn’t generally bring her into the limelight. While MacDonough has served as the Senate parliamentarian for five years and has worked in the office of the parliamentarian for eighteen, the public knows little of her important role with the upcoming debate on the senate bill to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare.
Time to Kill the Death Panel
With Congress poised to repeal and replace Obamacare, the time has come to abolish the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a little-known but dangerous provision within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Congress needs to repeal IPAB, and if it were not for the arcane rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process being used to repeal Obamacare, it certainly would have been included in either of the repeal-and-replace bills being debated.
Thornberry’s Attempt at Acquisition Reform
Over the past 15 years, the budget of the Department of Defense (DoD) has swollen to encompass more than 50 percent of discretionary spending in fiscal year (FY) 2016, and is expected to increase by an additional $54 billion in FY 2018. Unbelievably, it is the lone federal agency to have never undergone an audit, as is required by law. The vital nature of the Pentagon’s mission means that inefficiency in this sector is too dangerous to tolerate. Wasted spending costs taxpayers and undermines the capability of the armed forces.
Western Lands; the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The history of federal land ownership in the West is long and complex. In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase established the federal government as administrator of vast stretches of land not already under control by states. In 1862, the federal government attempted to transfer some of that control back to the populace through the Homestead Act, which provided settlers with 160 acres of public land.