Spoiler Alert! In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is ultimately gunned down in a case of mistaken identity. In another case of mistaken identity, the Government Accountability and Transparency Board (GATB), an entity established by executive order on June 13, 2011, as part of the Obama Administration’s “Campaign to Cut Waste,” can be easily confused with the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (Recovery Board), a separate operation that manages the Recovery.gov website and oversees spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, more commonly known as the “stimulus.”
What’s the Word? WRDA!
“WRDA,” a legislative acronym pronounced “word-uh” in Beltway speak and not to be confused with Cameo’s 1986 hip-hop hit, “Word Up,” refers to the Water Resources Development Act, the authorization of water-related infrastructure projects, including dams, locks, and other navigational and flood control projects pertaining to the nation’s inland waterways. The last WRDA bill to […]
Where’s Your Data?
Radio shock jock Doug “The Greaseman” Tracht in the 1980s and funny man Dennis Miller in the ’90s had a shared catch-phrase, “Who’s your daddy?” that evolved into a taunting expression of superiority over the respondent. The familiar adage, “knowledge is power,” evokes another dynamic, wherein access to information is critical. Inquiring taxpayers would therefore want to know, “Where’s my data?”
Happy 35th Anniversary, Airline Deregulation!
As a hard-nosed researcher of low fares (in other words, I am a cheap flier), I am appreciative of the fact that, thirty five years ago today, President Jimmy Carter signed the Air Transportation Regulatory Reform Act into law, on October 24, 1978. Prior to airline deregulation, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) regulated the airline […]
And Here’s To You, Mrs. Lautenberg!
The recent action by Congress to provide a death gratuity to the widow of the late Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has raised a few eyebrows. Specifically, the continuing resolution (CR) passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in the late evening hours of Wednesday, October 16, included $174,000 – the equivalent of […]
A Clean CR is a Dirty Rotten Shame
On the October 2nd edition of Fox News Channel’s Special Report, columnist Charles Krauthammer decried the Democrats’ disingenuous insistence on a “clean CR,” implying that such an approach is actually a ratification of failure. On the one hand, it would underscore the fact that both chambers of Congress had failed in one of their most […]
Death, Taxes, and Postal Rate Hikes
It seems that, in addition to death and taxes, one more thing is certain: the price rise of postage stamps. My earliest recollection of the price of a stamp? It was in 1972: an 8-cent stamp, providing my first appreciation for Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose visage was pasted to the upper right-hand corner of any […]
Rotten to the (Common) Core
Starting in mid-August, children began returning to classrooms across the country. The individuals who work in school districts have the most personal (and visceral) contact of any level of government, especially since parents entrust them with their progeny. But this close relationship may be supplanted by mandates from on high (or wherever it is that education apparatchiks perch), where a handful of policy wonks (not Father) supposedly knows best. If they have their way, these D.C. do-gooders will dictate the curricula for elementary schools in Elmira, junior highs in Joplin, and high schools in High Point.
Geez, Louise: Let’s Squeeze the GSEs!
Joe and Teresa Giudice, aka one of the “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” are fresh off of a 39-count indictment for mail fraud, wire/bank/bankruptcy fraud and making false statements on mortgage loan applications. And when it comes to misleading mortgage-related information, their anthropomorphic equivalent may just be that government-sponsored (and now owned) enterprise (GSE) couple, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, aka Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Unlike the Movie Monsters, Will the “Lifeline” Program Ever Die?
CAGW has repeatedly railed against the abuses of the “Lifeline” program, but much like Michael Myers (of “Halloween” fame), Jason Voorhees (of the “Friday the 13th” franchise), and George Romero’s zombies, this program simply refuses to die. If you’re not familiar with “Lifeline,” then perhaps you know it by its more popular manifestation, the so-called […]