Happy New Year! CAGW is pleased to announce that it will reconstitute its Healthcare and Science Division. Why you ask? The October 1, 2013 roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, and the following chaos demonstrated the need for CAGW to increase its focus on health policy. I’ll be heading up […]
Obamacare Has Taken a Lickin…And It Still Isn’t Tickin
Well, now that January 1 has come and gone many of us get to experience the joys of government-controlled health insurance, better known as Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act. (Yes they ARE the same thing. There have been polls, which indicate people believe they are two different laws.) Three interesting stories popped up within […]
TV Viewing for the Next Generation
Today’s TV viewing options are much different than when Congress passed the Cable Act of 1992. This Act was passed in response to cable television rate increases following deregulation, a lack of competition in the cable marketplace and the concern of broadcasters that their local stations would not be carried by cable companies. The law […]
You Think Obamacare’s Problems Are Over? Just Wait.
Last week a lot of information was revealed about Obamacare and it’s not good. One Wednesday, December 11, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing entitled,” PPACA Implementation Failures: What’s Next?” The sole witness was the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Her testimony can be found […]
Freeing Up Government Held Spectrum
On December 11, 2013, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to approve a bi-partisan measure that would provide incentives to federal agencies to free up more spectrum. The federal government is the largest holder of spectrum below the 3 GHz range. According to the National Telecommunications and Information Agency, the U.S. government currently has […]
Where’s Your Data?
Radio shock jock Doug “The Greaseman” Tracht in the 1980s and funny man Dennis Miller in the ’90s had a shared catch-phrase, “Who’s your daddy?” that evolved into a taunting expression of superiority over the respondent. The familiar adage, “knowledge is power,” evokes another dynamic, wherein access to information is critical. Inquiring taxpayers would therefore want to know, “Where’s my data?”
Farm Bill Reform: Waiting on Rain During a Drought
The 112th Congress made progress toward enacting a new Farm Bill, but eventually settled on a one-year extension. In the 113th Congress, the House and Senate passed their own versions of the Farm Bill, but unfortunately for taxpayers, the bills are still rife with profligate subsidies and outdated programs.
GAO Reports Highlight Continued Deficiencies in IT Reporting
The federal government is expected to spend $81 billion in information technology (IT) in fiscal year 2014. Management and effectively monitoring IT investments is critical during this time when budgets are constrained by sequestration.
“NASA Takes Wasteful Spending to New Heights”
Numbers certainly rule The National Aeronautic Space Association’s (NASA) universe. When it comes to solving complex formulas to calculate the orbit of a Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the exact second when space particles disappear into a black hole, or the amount of oxygen needed for human life to orbit the moon, they have it down to a tee. NASA has developed some of the worlds’ most complex tools and mathematical formulas that have helped the agency lead the world in space-related technological innovation.
Pesky Lawsuits Threaten Obamacare
Obamacare is a top-down, authoritarian law that has already spawned untold confusion, astronomical costs, and widespread dysfunction. Still, in an attempt to confer an air of finality to the whole mess and deter the law’s opponents from attempting to repeal or replace it, Obamacare supporters are vested in the narrative that it is “settled.” However, it is far from settled legally and its authority is being threatened by several lawsuits rising from below, the states.