In the summer of 2002, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and several other local environmental activist groups in California announced their radical agenda to combat the “drought” in California by removing 1.3 million acres of farmland from production in the San Joaquin Valley. The effort to remove such a vast amount of farmland from production was due to an effort to save a 3-inch long minnow called the Delta Smelt. The burden that water policies in California have had on taxpayers is often overlooked and widely misunderstood. It is worth understanding what these policies mean and how they affect not only California, but the rest of the country.
Pushing Back on the Global Warming Hypothesis
When it comes to global warming, President Obama has often said “the science is settled.” If that is so then it does not make sense that 300 scientists, engineers, economists, and others sent a letter on January 25, 2016, supporting the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology for their efforts to “ensure that federal agencies complied with federal guidelines that implemented the Data Quality Act” in their examination of a hotly debated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study. They wrote that the law, also called the Information Quality Act (IQA), “required government-wide guidelines to ‘ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information, including statistical information,’ that was disseminated to the public. Individual agencies, such as the EPA, NOAA and many others were required to issue corresponding guidelines and set up mechanisms to allow affected parties to seek to correct information considered erroneous.” The signatories believe that NOAA, an agency within the Department of Commerce, has failed to follow the IQA and that this “is an issue of international relevance because of the weight given to U.S. Government assessments during international negotiations” such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body created by the United Nations.
How to Stop the Death Spiral in Puerto Rico
In late June, 2015, Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla said that the island could not meet its obligations to pay off $72 billion in the combined debt of the territorial government and municipalities. In November 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department agreed that the territory was insolvent. Garcia Padilla then called the situation a “death spiral” during a hearing on December 1, 2015.
Questionable Justification for Noncompetitive Huey Replacement
The Air Force currently operates 62 Bell UH-1N Twin Huey helicopters, which serve two purposes: they provide security for the country’s nuclear missile fields, and perform the continuity of government mission, whereby designated senior officials would be transported out of the nation’s capital in the event of an emergency.
Privacy in the Digital Age
On February 25, 2016, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to discuss the impact of international law on the privacy of information that crosses borders. However, the discussion at the hearing continually came back to a domestic issue: the need for Congress to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) in order to address the disparity between ECPA and the changes in technology since the law was enacted.
Obamacare’s Festering Fraud Wound
On June 25, 2015, President Obama made a bold proclamation regarding his signature healthcare law: “As the dust has settled, there can be no doubt that this law is working.” He doubled down by adding that it “is working exactly as it’s supposed to.” President Obama’s comments that day illustrate his continued unwillingness to accept the consequences of his healthcare takeover. Ever since the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) became law, he has ignored the panoply of problems that plague the law and the wasteful government agencies it empowered.
The USA Act(s): A Tale of Two Spending Reform Bills
To borrow from (and bifurcate) one of Charles Dickens’ most famous sentences, the current governing environment might be described as “the worst of times … the age of foolishness … the epoch of incredulity … the winter of despair …” Anyone who remembers the rest of the opening line from A Tale of Two Cities knows that Dickens painted a more balanced picture, referencing also “the best of times … the age of wisdom … the epoch of belief … the spring of hope …” That upbeat effort notwithstanding, a cup half full does not accurately reflect the state of government spending today.
RSC Releases Budget Proposal
On March 17, 2016, the House of Representatives’ Republican Study Committee (RSC), chaired by Rep. Flores (R-Texas), released its budget proposal.
Obamacare Further Immerses Itself Between Doctor and Patient
Citizens Against Government Waste’s February Waste Watcher, “Obamacare’s Cerberus,” discussed concerns with three organizations created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare. They are the Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI), the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI.) All have the capability to develop into government rationing boards.
The Moral Hazard of Subpriming Solar
In January 2016, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced the launch of the $30 million Mass Solar Loan Program (MSLP). MSLP will provide residential solar customers income-based loan support and interest rate buy downs. The program will also include a subprime loan loss reverse scheme to reduce the risk to lenders, opening the door for financial chaos to ensue.