On January 6, the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off in Las Vegas, Nevada. This annual event showcases a multitude of devices and inventions, demonstrating the ingenuity and entrepreneurship of inventors across a wide range of fields.
Official Time: Practically Opaque in Every Way
On May 9, 2013, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order stating, “Openness in government strengthens our democracy, promotes the delivery of efficient and effective services to the public, and contributes to economic growth.” His pronouncement does not equate with reality: not all federal agencies are as open and transparent as the president wishes them to be. With apologies to Mary Poppins, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has proven to be practically opaque in every way: When it comes to reporting hours spent on “official time,” the last report OPM released on this virtual union subsidy was for fiscal year (FY) 2012.
From Boondoggle to Bailout: Governor Hogan’s Wrong Turn on the Purple Line
The March 2015 edition of WasteWatcher included an article about local transit projects, “Transportation Boondoggles: Streetcars and Other Things Lacking Desire.” One of the culprits was the proposed Purple Line, a bait-and-switch,* multi-billion dollar, 16-mile light-rail line connecting New Carrollton and Bethesda, two Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.
When the Federal Government Goes Too Far
On February 2, 2015, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler released a statement supporting federal preemption of state laws that restrict municipal broadband networks. On February 26, 2015, two other FCC commissioners agreed with the Chairman, and voted to overturn laws in North Carolina and Tennessee that restricted local municipalities’ ability to build government owned networks. Both states filed suit in March 2015 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to have the FCC’s decision overturned.
Single-Payer VA Healthcare Fails America’s Veterans
By any measure, those that serve in America’s military are the best of the nation. They sacrifice life and limb to defend the United States. They deserve the best medical care when they return home. However, numerous investigations over the past several years have exposed a systemic cancer of mismanagement and neglect in the federal department tasked with that care.
This is What Ash Carter’s Reform Looks Like
Upon assuming the office of Secretary of Defense in February 2015, Ashton Carter prioritized recruiting private sector companies – especially those in technology industries – to bid on contracts awarded by the Department of Defense (DOD). Carter, who holds a PhD in theoretical physics and lectured at Stanford, had the chops to appeal to Silicon Valley tech mavens.
The Other Three Rs
Most of the time “the three Rs” mean reading, writing, and arithmetic. But for healthcare, what comes to mind are risk adjustment, reinsurance and risk corridors. These are risk-sharing mechanisms for insurance companies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare. Taxpayers need to pay very close attention to the risk corridors because they are not functioning as planned due to the badly designed ACA. Some politicians want to supplement the risk corridors with taxpayer dollars in order to bail out insurance companies.
Running Down the Clock on Internet Taxes
Nothing like waiting until the last minute to do something important. That is exactly what is happening on the Hill this week. The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) is set once again to expire at midnight on December 11, 2015. Since 1992, when the general public was given access to the Internet, the use of […]
Night of the Walking Corporate Welfare
It’s similar to a zombie movie: just when you thought they were gone, they come lumbering back in their inexorable (and voracious) death march. Case in point: the Export-Import Bank died in June, but, like most zombies, it didn’t stay dead. A provision in the gas-guzzling Highway Bill, signed by Obama last Friday, December 4, […]
Gas Guzzling Highway Bill Chugs to the White House
Late on December 3, 2015, the Senate passed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act with a vote of 83-16. Needing only a signature from the President to become law, the FAST Act is a hasty solution to a long-term problem without concern for the amount of taxpayer money it wastes. The FAST Act is […]