On January 29, 2013, President Obama signed into law a $50.5 billion relief bill aimed at helping victims of Hurricane Sandy. Despite complaints from many fiscal conservatives – Citizens Against Government Waste included – that the bill had been unnecessarily fattened up in order to serve parochial interests, the deal got done. Its passage marked an important victory for politicians like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), both of whom had publicly and loudly excoriated Congress for dragging its feet.
Zombie Apocalypse Threatens Taxpayer Dollars, Not Nation’s Security
In December 2012, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released Safety At Any Price: Assessing the Impact of Homeland Security Spending in U.S. Cities, which focused on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant programs, including the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI). Those who are familiar with Sen. Coburn’s previous work were not surprised by the numerous examples of wasteful spending in the report, such as federal funding for a zombie apocalypse demonstration.
Fight for Internet Freedom Continues
Innovation and development of the Internet has been allowed to grow and flourish around the globe for years. However, efforts are being made to change the flow of information and Internet governance through a new U.N. regulatory treaty that would give the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) authority over the Internet. From December 3-14, 2012, the […]
Police Chiefs Issue Guidance for Cloud Computing
On February 21, 2012, a Swineline blog post proposed that cloud computing is a viable option for law enforcement.
Time to Reduce Wasteful Government IT Spending
On January 22, 2013, the House Committee on Government Oversight held a hearing on reducing wasteful information technology (IT) spending by the federal government. According to a video released prior to the hearing by the Committee, the federal government wastes nearly $20 billion in IT spending each year, the equivalent of the amount of taxes paid by the state of Kansas annually.
Sequestration: The Sky is Not Falling
WasteWatcher
January, 2013
An Increasingly Connected Society Needs Spectrum
According to a January 7, 2013 article in Wireless Week, on December 25, 2012, nearly 17.4 million mobile devices, including tablets, Smartphones, and cell phones were activated.
GM Bailout Could Get Much Worse
WasteWatcher, January, 2013
Tanking the Taxpayers
The hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks that Congress has approved for upgrades to the M1 Abrams are so “vital” for national security that the Department of Defense (DOD) has more than 2,000 of the tanks parked in a California desert.
Sandy Relief Bill is a Disaster
On November 18, 2012, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) told Politico that spending cuts triggered by the “fiscal cliff” projected to take effect on January 1 would be “devastating,” and that they would “really compromise our domestic security and our capacity to respond to emergencies and disasters like [Superstorm Sandy].” For that bit of scare-mongering, Sen. Lieberman was named Citizens Against Government Waste’s (CAGW) Porker of the Month.