On June 9, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on the Budget held a hearing titled, “The Need to Control Automatic Spending and Unauthorized Programs.” The witnesses included: the Honorable David Walker, former Comptroller General to the United States; Stuart Butler, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute; and Lily Batchelder, a professor of […]
Next on Hotel Hell: City of Baltimore
For eight consecutive years, the city-owned and operated Hilton Baltimore has lost money, $5.2 million in 2015. Baltimore’s economy has not been strong recently, and the riots following the Freddie Gray incident haven’t had a positive impact on the city’s tourist business. However, the Hilton was losing money well before the recent troubles. Instead of making $7 million a […]
Keeping Internet Governance in the U.S.
On March 14, 2014, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) would not renew its contract to oversee the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in September 2015. The announcement called into question what governing body would provide the necessary oversight of the organization in order to prevent […]
New Air Force Tanker Unable to Refuel Planes
Boeing is set to miss a significant contractual deadline in its KC-46 tanker program. According to a May 27, 2016 Defense News article, the contractor was supposed to deliver 18 aircraft to the Air Force by August 2017, the latest (and most significant) of many delays in the KC-46 program. The planes will now arrive […]
Senate Hearing on TSA Operations: Frustrated Travelers and Threats to Aviation
This morning, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs held a hearing entitled, “Frustrated Travelers: Rethinking TSA Operations to Improve Passenger Screening and Address Threats to Aviation.” The witnesses included: The Honorable Peter V. Neffenger, Administrator, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) The Honorable John Roth, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Jennifer Grover, […]
Hensarling’s CHOICE: “Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs”
With his newest catch-phrase, “Economic Growth for All, and Bank Bailouts for None,” House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) unveiled the key principles underpinning his proposal to replace the Dodd-Frank Act with “real reforms that work,” in a speech earlier today to the Economic Club of New York. The following represent the key […]
USPS and the Next Gen Vehicle
The United States Postal Service isn’t known for its whiz-kid, early adoption of shape-shifting technology innovations. While the private sector has been screaming along, birthing cutting-edge, disruptive technologies in the communications, transportation, and logistics sector, the USPS has remained mired in its top-heavy, sclerotic, analog, bricks-and-mortar past. For example, the USPS has been preparing to procure […]
Is Obamacare Teetering?
So many things have happened to Obamacare these past couple of months, it’s like drinking from a fire hose. Insurers say “Buh Bye” In April, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, UnitedHealthcare, announced it will pull out of most of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA), or Obamacare, marketplace exchanges by 2017. Why? Because in […]
OMB Tackles Some Low-Hanging Fruit
On January 20, 2016, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) weighed in on a request for comments from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the requirements that should be included in its guidance to federal departments and agencies for improving the management and purchasing of software assets. CAGW recommended that agencies should be required […]
SCOTUS Provides Eagle Eye of Oversight for Hawkes Case
On May 31, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued its ruling in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. The case raised the question whether property owners could challenge “jurisdictional determinations” by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). USACE considered Hawkes’ land to be “navigable waters,” based on the […]