On September 22, Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) introduced the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act as the companion bill to Rep. Geoff Davis’ (R-Ky.) legislation, H.R. 3765. The DeMint legislation aims to stop costly anti-free market and job-killing regulations that are often imposed by federal agencies without any congressional oversight.
The Perfect Storm for ESPCs
Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) is an idea whose time has come. The federal government is beyond broke. The budget deficit reached a record $1.4 trillion at the end of last fiscal year. It is projected to remain over $1 trillion annually for as long as estimators can see. This level of deficit spending will […]
Pension Precipice
It is time to stare the brutal facts in the face.
Billions Wasted in Iraq
When President Obama marked the end of combat operations in Iraq in a speech on August 31, 2010, he spoke at length on America’s lasting legacy in the country. Unfortunately for taxpayers, part of that legacy includes billions in waste, dating back to the beginning of the reconstruction effort.
Another Sour Note for Taxpayers
Government watchdogs are familiar with how the federal government squanders billions of dollars a year on duplicative, expensive, and non-essentialgovernment programs. Now taxpayers have a new reason to be disturbed; aSeptember 6, 2010Washington Postarticlereported that approximately half a billion dollars is being wasted by the Pentagon on military bands.
Air Force Tanker Struggling to Lift Off
Replacing the aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers has been an Air Force priority since 2002. In that year, Congress approved funding for Boeing to lease up to 100 767s to replace the 50-year-old KC-135 tankers. However, the deal fell apart in a 2004 bribery scandal in which a top Pentagon procurement officer and a senior Boeing official were convicted and served prison sentences.
Air Force Tanker Struggling to Lift Off
Replacing the aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers has been an Air Force priority since 2002. In that year, Congress approved funding for Boeing to lease up to 100 767s to replace the 50-year-old KC-135 tankers. However, the deal fell apart in a 2004 bribery scandal in which a top Pentagon procurement officer and a senior Boeing official were convicted and served prison sentences.
The “Razorback Subsidy” is a Whole Different Kind of Disaster for Taxpayers
President Obama needs to pass a bill, but a powerful chairwoman of a Senate committee, who is in danger of not being reelected, adds a controversial and expensive provision that puts passage in jeopardy. Conventional wisdom says that the White House cuts a deal. And, unfortunately, that is exactly what happened at the end of July, when the White House told the Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark) that they would still help her obtain $1.5 billion in farm disaster aid if she promised to remove language funding the program from a small business bill.
The Great Unraveling Continues…
The new summer blockbuster “Inception” features spectacular special effect sequences of towering edifices exploding, crumbling, and otherwise disintegrating in a film that addresses the fine line between reality and a dream state. Right before the film’s protagonists emerge from medically-induced dream states, they experience instability, turbulence, and ultimately the total collapse of their immediate physical environments. These sequences, which are awesome to behold on the big screen, are reminiscent of what is happening now in the real world with regard to the fiscal projections made about President Obama’s healthcare bill, only a lot less entertaining.
Spending Revolt Bus Across America
Fed up with excessive government spending, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), Americans for Prosperity, the 60 Plus Association, Concerned Women for America, and AmericaSpeakOn.org have joined forces to create a new website, www.spendingrevolt.com and go on a multi-state bus tour to educate and activate taxpayers. The wake-up tour is intended to arm Americans with facts and figures about government spending so they can change their spending habits in Washington.The busmeasures 70 feet long and has space for people to write “personal messages” to their elected officials.