In Washington, there is an old saying. If you want a friend, get a dog. Figuratively speaking, it looks like Obamacare needs to find a dog. The bad news about Obamacare and its implementation problems started as a trickle earlier this year but as it gets closer to October 1 when the Exchanges are suppose […]
SIRF’s Up!
Unfortunately, the title does not refer to the ideal sea conditions preferred by surfers . Instead, the acronym SIRF stands for “Stolen Identity Refund Fraud,” a crime that is rising in Florida and beyond, to include nearby Georgia and farther-away Michigan. Given the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS’) apparent inability to prevent this crime in the […]
Unions Wake Up from their Four-Year Slumber
Well, who would have thought that the very unions that spent millions of dollars to get Obamacare signed into law are now complaining to Democrat leaders in Congress about the same law, telling them, “We have a problem; you need to fix it.” In the letter to Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader […]
Flying High on the Tax Payers
I am one who appreciates our military and wants it to be strong and effective. Under our Constitution, one of the main purposes of the federal government is to “provide for the common defense.” But that does not mean that Congress and the Defense Department cannot root out wasteful spending. Here is a good example […]
Put On the Daddy Pants
Politico Pro, a Washington D.C.-based policy magazine, recently wrote a piece entitled, “The Sequester’s Slow Burn,” by Darren Samuelsohn. He starts off by saying, “So the era of sequestration has meant furloughs for more than 800,000 workers and entire agencies are shuttered for days – and those were the easy cuts. There are nine more years […]
E-Rate Program Reform To Take Center Stage at FCC
On Friday, July 19, 2013, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be meeting to discuss, among other items, reforms to the Universal Service Fund (USF)’ E-Rate program, which was highlighted in the July edition of Wastewatcher. It is expected that the outcome of this meeting will be a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to […]
Crony “Cropitalism”
Green Acres, a zany television sitcom that aired on CBS from 1965 to 1971, featured the antics of a former New York City attorney, Oliver Wendell Douglas (portrayed with stuffy effectiveness by Eddie Albert), and his ditzy, socialite wife, Lisa (played by the lovely Eva Gabor), who have invested their wealth into a dilapidated farmhouse and the equally dysfunctional farm on which it sits. The highfalutin city dwellers have moved to rural Hooterville, a surreal community of country bumpkins where everyday rules of common sense just don’t seem to apply. In fact, one episode featured a storyline in which the townfolk were convinced that they could receive tax refunds without ever having paid taxes: to Oliver’s bewilderment, they did.
On the Hook for More Bailouts
On July 9, 2013, the Financial Stability Oversight Council voted to categorize American International Group (AIG) and GE Capital as systemically important according to a Washington Post article on the same day. The designations were provided for by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act after the financial crisis of 2008. AIG came […]
Bottom Feeders Take a Bite Out of the Farm Bill
On June 10, 2013 the Senate passed its version of the 2013 Farm Bill, which included a provision to create a new catfish inspection office at the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jean Shaheen (D-N.H.) sponsored an amendment that would have eliminated the program, but a vote was blocked by Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).
DCGS May Need to be Deep-Sixed
The Army’s Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS-A), a network-based tool intended to provide real-time access to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, invokes a strong reaction from both its proponents and detractors. According to Army brass, DCGS-A represents a breakthrough in intelligence support capability, while users have called it a “huge, bloated, excessively expensive money pit.”