As we approach the debt-ceiling debate (expected to be sometime between mid-October and mid-November) it is worth to review what Senator Obama said about raising the debt ceiling in March, 2006. You can find his statement in the Congressional Record here, page 2237. but I have provided it for you just below. Before you read […]
Legislation Puts Medicare Recovery Auditing, and Taxpayers, At Risk
Government waste, fraud, and abuse are a scourge on American taxpayers and a multi-billion dollar insult to the federal budget, but preventing improper payments, particularly in Medicare, is now running into roadblocks despite being a rare example of success. Medicare providers, particularly hospitals, which have for years received billions in improper overpayments, now fully appreciate […]
Make Vanishing Rights Reappear
The government cannot come into your home and rifle through your personal belongings without a warrant or a subpoena authorizing such a search. However, unless the outdate Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which was enacted in 1986, is amended, files stored online with cloud computing vendors, email service providers and others may be subject to […]
Navigating Healthcare Privacy
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $67 million in grants to more than 100 organizations to assist individuals needing help navigating the confusing process of signing up for Obamacare. On August 14, 2013, the attorney generals of 13 states sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sebelius, raising apprehension about what they […]
Tax and Spend Won’t Fix the Results of the Financial Crisis
Today, the President gave a speech on the five-year anniversary of the financial meltdown and claimed his policies of government “investments” and intrusion into the private sector, higher taxes, and more regulations have helped the economy turn the corner. He called for more government spending as he claimed, yet again, turning the economy around is his top […]
Will the Senate Close the Door to Obamacare Fraud?
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2775, legislation that requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to have a program in place that verifies the household income and coverage requirements of individuals and families applying for taxpayer-funded subsidies and credits to help them purchase health insurance under Obamacare. By law, the credits […]
Another New Math?
It seems that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew may have created another form of “new math.” According to CNSNews.com, the U.S. Treasury has not reported an increase in the debt for the entire month of August. It has remained at the same level every day since May. As CNSNews points out, “that makes 112 days that, […]
A Common Problem in U.S. Education
The Common Core State Standards Initiative, originally sponsored by the National Governor’s Association, and supported by President Obama, will change the way students are tested and how teachers will teach by the year 2014. If there’s any confusion on what that means, just read the Common Core’s mission statement: “The standards are designed to be […]
You’re Kidding, More Government Excess?
I’ve written before about several reports released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which catalog duplication of and excess in programs across the government. The GAO offers suggestions on reducing the duplication that would release funding for other government programs and deficit reduction. You can find my prior blogs here and here. Here are some […]
Rotten to the (Common) Core
Starting in mid-August, children began returning to classrooms across the country. The individuals who work in school districts have the most personal (and visceral) contact of any level of government, especially since parents entrust them with their progeny. But this close relationship may be supplanted by mandates from on high (or wherever it is that education apparatchiks perch), where a handful of policy wonks (not Father) supposedly knows best. If they have their way, these D.C. do-gooders will dictate the curricula for elementary schools in Elmira, junior highs in Joplin, and high schools in High Point.