In his 1964 State of the Union address, President Lyndon Johnson declared an “all-out war on human poverty and unemployment in these United States.” President Johnson said, “Our aim is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it.”
A Penny, a Nickel, and a Dollar Walk Into a Bar…
The dire fiscal circumstances facing the country are enough to drive Americans to drink. But when it comes to the billions of dollars that could be saved for taxpayers, currency modernization represents a much-needed tonic, as well as a partial cure for the spending-like-drunken-sailors hangover that seriously threatens the country’s well-being.
Taxes on Ashes: California’s Proposition 56
As the legislative session comes to an end in California, the government’s addiction to regressive tax policies has not. A well-organized campaign, composed of billionaires, medical groups, and trade associations, has collected enough signatures to include Proposition 56, a ballot measure in November, to raise California’s cigarette tax by 2 dollars per pack.
Waste Proliferates Inside the EPA in 2016
No department or agency in the federal government is immune from the bureaucratic toxin of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. Ironically, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is responsible for cleaning up all kinds of sewage, sludge, and foul matter, has consistently been one of the most wasteful agencies. EPA officials have so consistently mismanaged and squandered the taxpayers’ money in 2016 that this year alone should serve as a teachable moment for other federal agencies.
Return to Sender: The Postal Service Reform Act of 2016
Even to the most neutral observer, the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) financial condition is dire. Notwithstanding it $18 billion annual advantage over other private sector companies (exemption from income; state local sales; and property tax exemption; power of eminent domain; monopoly control over mailboxes; and a $15 billion line of credit from the U.S. Treasury) the USPS has posted more than $50 billion in losses since 2007 and faces $125 billion in unfunded liabilities. Regardless of how the USPS arrived at this position, there is a broad consensus that reform is needed.
A Pathway to Change at the IRS
Because of the delicate, private, and proprietary nature of information provided by individuals and businesses to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on tax returns, audits are an inherently governmental function that should be conducted solely by government employees. This confidential process should not be handed over to outside individuals or organizations. However, that is exactly the situation that Microsoft Corporation found itself in May 2014, when the IRS decided to hire an outside litigation firm to conduct an audit of the company’s international division, and then proscriptively issued regulations allowing the agency to take such action.
Inspector General: “Image is Everything” and USPS Facilities are Lacking
On August 29, 2016, the Office of the Inspector General (IG) for the United States Postal Service (USPS) released an audit report on USPS facilities in the Capital Metro Area. The Capital Metro Area, which includes Atlanta, Baltimore, Greensboro, Richmond, and surrounding areas, is home to 2,600 postal facilities (USPS leases and owns more than […]
Deep Sixing Taxpayer Dollars with Miners’ Pension Bailout?
So this is Sen. Manchin’s (D-West Virginia) solution to the demise of the coal mining industry? Let’s review: This administration, run by one of Manchin’s own party and enthusiasctially supported by other prominent Democrats like VP Joe Biden and presidential hopeful and former NY Senator Hillary Clinton, attacked and killed a whole industry with complete disregard […]
Donald Trump Commits to Several CAGW-Endorsed Reforms to Eliminate Government Waste
At a speech to the Union League in Philadelphia today, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump committed to several government-wide reforms that could save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars:
The God of Communications is Alive and Well at the FCC
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler is doing his best to emulate Mercury, the God of Communications, whose portfolio also covered commerce and transportation. (He was also known as a trickster and guided people into the Underworld.) The chairman has imposed ancient communications laws on the Internet, usurped the Federal Trade Commission’s role on […]