‘Tis the season…for tax refund fraud. And the 2012 filing season promises to be a whooper when it comes to taxpayers’ refunds being ripped off.
Medicaid Expansion: Put It on My Tab
Sequestration will reduce the rate of growth in federal spending, but it nonetheless presented something of a predicament for budget hawks.
The Fed Boat: A Career on Cruise-Control
On February 5, the Washington Post reported that President Obama and his emissaries – particularly in the federal-employee-intensive enclaves of the D.C. suburbs in Virginia and Maryland – were sounding the alarm of a potential furlough if the dreaded sequester (automatic spending cuts) went into effect. On Friday, March 1, with no alternative agreement among the White House, the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, the sequestration took effect.
Light at the End of the Pipeline
At a time when the national debt exceeds $16.5 trillion, the unemployment rate is 7.9 percent, and the United States is searching for ways to reduce dependence on oil from the Middle East, it sure would be nice to have a project that assuages all three concerns at the same time. Such a project exists – it is called the Keystone Pipeline. Yet despite the overwhelming evidence of the positive impact that the pipeline would have on the American economy, as of March 7, 2013, the Obama Administration and the State Department had delayed making a decision to approve or reject the project for 1,630 days.
Savings Don’t Score Any Points with CBO
In 1974, Congress created the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide a nonpartisan independent analysis of budgetary and economic issues. CBO provides cost estimates of legislation determines the impact on federal spending for at least five years and up to 10 years from enactment.
Snow-quester: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to (Work?)
In 2010, Washingtonians lived through Snowmageddon. Some referred to it as the Snowpocalypse.
The Case Against Keystone XL Gets Weaker
Late Friday afternoon, right around when most people likely tuned out and stopped reading the news, the State Department released a report stating that the Keystone XL Pipeline would have little impact on climate change.
Delivering a Turnaround to the Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is broken. It is fixable.
Congress Sets Its Eyes on IT Acquisition Reform
On February 27, 2013, the House Committee on Government Reform held its second hearing on information technology (IT) acquisition reform.
Prime Cuts 2013
On the eve of sequestration, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released Prime Cuts 2013, our annual comprehensive list of spending cuts.