By now I am sure you have heard that the IRS targeted and harassed Tea Party and conservative groups that were trying to obtain non-profit status. If a group used words like “tea party” or “patriot” in their organization’s name or the phrase “making America a better place to live” it was enough to raise […]
The Proof is in the Metrics
On Tuesday, May 14, 2013, the House Oversight and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Government Operations held a hearing on “Data Centers and Cloud Computing: Is the Government Optimizing New Information Technologies to Save Taxpayer Dollars?” Citizens Against Government Waste’s (CAGW) most recent cloud computing report, the 2012 Federal Cloud Review discussed the potential for savings […]
The Farmers Love This Bill
“The farmers love this bill, The farmers love this bill, High, HIGH, the dairies go, The farmers love this bill!” While it’s a tortured version of the original, the verse scribbled above represents a more fitting rendition of the classic nursery rhyme these days, given ongoing congressional action. Today, the Senate will markup its version (S. […]
The 2013 Farm Bill – An Opportunity for Serious Waste Reduction
Although some progress was made last year toward passing a new, five-year Farm Bill, taxpayers should for once be thankful that lawmakers were unable to do their jobs, as the legislation left many programs largely unreformed and opened the door for additional wasteful spending. This week, both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are scheduled […]
Brood DC
All of the mid-Atlantic area is awaiting the arrival of the cicadas. “What are they?” you may be asking. If you are “lucky” enough to live along the Route 95 corridor from North Carolina to New Jersey, you may already know what they are but for the rest of our dear readers they are simply […]
Because They Could
Americans need to take heed to the shenanigans that the Obama Administration has undertaken in response to the sequester, which began March 1. Its action in the recent air traffic control episode to slow down air travel demonstrates arrogance and indifference toward the American people. In response, Congress had to pass legislation to halt the […]
2013 Farm Bill Update – Time to Plant Better Policies
During the 112th Congress, progress was made by both the House and Senate to enact a new Farm Bill. As the House and Senate Agriculture Committees prepare to mark up draft Farm Bills in mid-May, they should examine the progress, as well as the missteps, that were made during the last Congress. Lipstick won’t change the Farm Bill from being a piggy piece of legislation.
Tax Refund Fraud and Identity Theft – an Update
April is the cruelest month for most taxpayers, but for a growing number of them, it is the months that follow that do the most damage.
Bi-, Bi-, Biennial Budgeting!
While not as entertaining as “Bye, Bye, Birdie,” the bobby-soxer romp of the early 1960s, biennial budgeting represents a refreshing change-of-pace from the dour melodrama that Congress’ current fiscal discourse has become. On March 22, 2013, Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) scored a preliminary victory on the issue when the Senate voted 68-31 in favor of their amendment (S. Amdt. 138) to the Senate’s first-in-four-years budget resolution. The Isakson-Shaheen effort provides a matinee preview to their legislation, S. 554, the Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act, that would be needed to implement the recommendations included in the upper chamber’s budget resolution, which does not carry the force of law.
The Devil is in the Details on STEM Consolidation
There is little doubt that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs are essential to the nation’s ability to compete in the global economy.