On February 16, 2011 taxpayers and the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) scored a major victory when the House of Representatives voted 233-198 to kill funding for the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter as part of H.R. 1, the Full-Year Continuing Resolution (CR) for fiscal year (FY) 2011. The CR, which cut $100 billion from President Obama’s FY 2011 budget (equal to $61 billion from fiscal year 2010 approved spending levels), was approved by a vote of 235-189. The CR contained 61 spending cuts worth $9.9 billion were either identical or similar to recommendations in CAGW’s Prime Cuts.
Future of Earmarks Remains Vague
Predicting the future of earmarks can be a bit like peering into a crystal ball.
Planned Spending Cuts Do Not Include Defense
One of the top priorities of the Republican’s campaign to take back Congress in 2010 was to reduce the deficit by cutting spending. Republican leaders intended to return nondefense discretionary spending to 2008 levels by trimming $100 billion in the first fiscal year.
Obama’s SOTU, Yet Another Disappointment for Taxpayers
During a time of record annual budget deficits and public debt, the country, more than ever, needs solutions to its fiscal problems. Most taxpayers were expecting the President’s State of the Union speech to signal a major policy shift, away from rampant government spending and toward private sector solutions to the nation’s fiscal woes. Instead they heard the President pay lip service to a few spending issues and introduce more programs for which taxpayers will be responsible. In short, it was a major disappointment.
New House Rules Focus Members on Making Serious Spending Cuts
On election day, taxpayers turned out in droves to support fiscally conservative candidates that they entrusted with the responsibility of cutting the federal budget, reducing the size of the national debt, and returning Congress to the hands of the American people. Charged with these critical tasks, the 112th Congress has agreed to new rules and proposed debt-busting legislation in an effort to restore some semblance of fiscal sanity.
Net Loss
For many years there has been a vigorous debate on the pros and cons of net neutrality. On December 21, 2010, the nation took a technological step backwards when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to institute net neutrality rules on the Internet.
High-Speed Rail off the Tracks
When stumping for Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) in October 2010, Vice President Joe Biden made a telling statement regarding the government’s role in investments. He credited the government with “every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century,” adding that “in the middle of the Civil War you had a guy named Lincoln paying people $16,000 for every 40 miles of track they laid across the continental United States. … No private enterprise would have done that for another 35 years.”
Federal Housing Administration: The Next Big Fannie?
In the upcoming session of the 112th Congress, lawmakers will be faced with the daunting challenge of what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation’s two mortgage giants. These government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) have been under conservatorship since September, 2008 and they have sponged up $150 billion in taxpayer bailout money to date. The CBO estimates that the bailout will cost $380 billion, more than three times the cost to taxpayers of the savings and loan crisis in the 1980s.
Does Obamacare Save or Cost Money?
The strange world of congressional budget scoring obscures whether Obamacare saves or costs money, but it also provides insight into why the federal government is in such a financial mess. Revenue and cost figures are thrown about in an attempt to justify each side’s position. Understanding the relevant facts provides a clearer picture of reality.
Fiscal Commission: The First Step in a Journey of a Thousand Miles
On February 18, 2010 President Obama set up a bipartisan panel to address the deficit and debt. Dubbed the National Commission on Fiscal Reform and Integrity, the effort was co-chaired by former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson (R-Wy.).