Over the weekend, a high school freshman printed a history report; a man researched job postings over the Internet on his tablet; a family watched a TV show on their laptop while waiting for an appointment; and, a woman talked to her mother on her home’s cordless phone. All of these actions used unlicensed spectrum […]
In Case You Missed It
Between the three-day holiday weekend and the big snow storm on the east coast, you may have missed this news story from the Jan 17, Wall Street Journal. Titled “Exchanges See Little Progress on the Uninsured” by Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews it concerns a survey undertaken by McKinsey & Company of 4,463 consumers between […]
More Transparency for Obamacare
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Exchange Information Disclosure Act (H.R. 3362) by a bipartisan vote of 259 to 154. This is the second of two bills that bring more transparency to exactly what is happening with respect to security and actual enrollment in the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. I wrote […]
Maryland, My Maryland
On Sunday, January 12, the Washington Post wrote a highly critical article of the Maryland Health Connection, the state’s website for its health insurance exchange. The website has been a disaster since October 1, opening day for all the Obamacare exchanges. On the following Tuesday, the government official in charge of implementing the exchange, the state’s Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown […]
What’s the Word? WRDA!
“WRDA,” a legislative acronym pronounced “word-uh” in Beltway speak and not to be confused with Cameo’s 1986 hip-hop hit, “Word Up,” refers to the Water Resources Development Act, the authorization of water-related infrastructure projects, including dams, locks, and other navigational and flood control projects pertaining to the nation’s inland waterways. The last WRDA bill to […]
The Good, the Bad, and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013
On December 26, 2013, President Obama signed H. J. Res. 59, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, which sets a two-year budget for fiscal year (FY) 2014 and FY 2015. Although H.J. Res. 59 included some positive provisions, on the whole, it is an ugly deal for taxpayers.
Problem Identified, Solution Needed
“The problem isn’t that we don’t know what the problem is, the problem is that we [members of Congress] don’t act,” Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) stated in testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on January 9, 2014. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz echoed Sen. Coburn’s comments in his testimony […]
Medicaid Expansion – A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
CAGW is against the expansion of Medicaid. It is a terrible healthcare system that is paid for by taxpayers and consumes on average 24 percent of a state’s budget. The Congressional Budget Office predicts Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, will grow 8 percent and cost taxpayers approximately $554 billion […]
A Picture of Real FCC Reform
Even in successful industries such as communications, the government’s regulatory burdens have an adverse impact on innovation and growth. The cost of compliance is high and often passed along to consumers in the form of fees and additional taxes. On December 3, 2013, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) announced that the […]
Put the Taxpayers’ Money and the Unemployed to Work
After emergency unemployment insurance benefits expired for more than 1.3 million Americans on December 28, 2013, President Obama vowed to make the issue a top priority in the New Year. On January 6, 2014, the Senate voted 60-37 in favor of S. 1845, which would extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program despite the effort […]