On October 22, 2014, Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Okla.) released his annual “Wastebook 2014: What Washington Doesn’t Want You To Read.” The report listed 100 wasteful spending programs that cost taxpayers $25 billion annually. The Wastebook always brings chuckles and disbelief that the government could dish out so much money so foolishly. On the other hand, […]
Innovation = Jobs
Innovation creates jobs. That is the central premise of Jay Walker’s keynote address, “Making Innovation Work for America and Americans,” at the first meeting of the IP Dealmakers Forum on November 6, 2014. The forum linked investors together with intellectual property (IP) information and opportunities. Walker’s speech is particularly timely given the release on November […]
New CAGW Report on Intellectual Property
On November 17, 2014, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) will release its latest report, “Intellectual Property: Making It Personal.” Co-authored by CAGW President Tom Schatz and Director of Technology and Telecommunications Policy Deborah Collier, the report describes the positive effects of intellectual property (IP) for individuals, companies, and the U.S. economy, as well as the negative consequences of IP theft.
Procurement Legacies of the Afghan War
One of the most vivid and enduring images of the U.S. departure from Vietnam remains the Navy offloading perfectly good helicopters into the South China Sea as the last of its ships sailed away. The ongoing U.S. exodus from Afghanistan has produced a similar moment, albeit for a less useful aircraft.
A Glimmer of Hope at Yucca Mountain
On October 16, 2014, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued its Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Report 3, which confirmed what unbiased observers have long known: the facility meets the government’s long-term regulatory and safety requirements as a nuclear-waste repository. Progress on opening Yucca has continually stalled due to a variety of factors, but chief among them has been the opposition of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has used his position of power to thwart efforts to open the site. Now that the Republican Party has captured the majority in the Senate, common sense may finally win the day.
Blaming Republicans for Ebola: A Seedy Campaign Ploy
Less than two weeks after the first person with Ebola in the United States was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on September 30, 2014, Democrats and their allies began blaming Republicans for his plight and everything else connected with preventing and treating the disease.
Dueling Agencies
On October 22, 2014, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released his annual “Wastebook 2014. What Washington Doesn’t Want You To Read.” The new edition includes 100 wasteful programs or projects, ranging from the bizarre to the truly egregious, worth $25 billion. Here are just a few examples: A $331,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) […]
Obstruction Junction, What’s Your Function?
In 2009, U.S. officials discovered that Mexican cartels had become the leading gun-traffickers responsible for high levels of crime throughout the Southwest U.S.
On Title II, Just Say No to FCC Overreach
Back in the 1980s, First Lady Nancy Reagan had a slogan to go with her anti-drug campaign, “Just Say No.” Perhaps this same slogan should be used in the ongoing debate over the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) efforts on net neutrality and Title II reclassification of the Internet. On November 10, 2014, the White House […]
Postal Delivery Times for Mail Slip, But Groceries Get Delivered in San Francisco !
Even as the USPS has ramped up a demo project to delivery groceries with Amazon in a few cities and made a deal to deliver some parcels for certain retailers on Sunday, the USPS is scaling back delivery standards for core customers, the folks who pay their bills, first class mail customers. While we support […]