A report was released on May 26, 2011 by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that exposed wasteful spending at the National Science Foundation (NSF). The report found $3 billion in mismanagement, with more than $1.2 billion of NSF’s total budget of $6.9 billion for fiscal year 2010 squandered due to waste, fraud, and duplication.
Progress in Campaign to End MEADS
Created in 1995, the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) is a collaborative missile defense project intended to replace the Patriot Missile system, which has been used by the U.S. and its allies for decades. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S., Germany, and Italy required that the U.S. pony up 58 percent of the development costs, with Germany covering 25 percent and Italy paying 17 percent. The U.S. has already spent $1.9 billion on the design and development phase of MEADS, but the program has been plagued with cost overruns of $2 billion and is 10 years behind schedule.
President Obama’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” Has Lackluster Prospects
On June 13, 2011, President Obama issued an Executive Order mandating a “renewed effort to hunt down misspent tax dollars in every agency and department of this government.” The President announced the so-called “Campaign to Cut Waste” by posting a short video message on youtube.com. Vice-President Joe Biden will lead the campaign, which will initially consolidate or eliminate some 500 federally maintained websites. The video specifically targeted several federal websites as a part of the initial effort, including a website dedicated to the desert tortoise, a page featuring a forest rangers’ folk music group called the Fiddlin’ Foresters, the National Invasive Species Council’s homepage, and another webpage with information about the International Polar Year, which ended in 2008.
Mountain of Government Waste at Yucca
Since the 1970s, the U.S. has been searching for a long-term site to store its nuclear waste. The nation’s spent nuclear fuel, which can remain radioactive for thousands of years, is currently sitting in more than 100 temporary facilities scattered across the country, often within close proximity to highly-populated metropolitan areas. In 2008, after decades of examination and dozens of lawsuits, the Department of Energy (DOE) submitted a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to complete construction and make operational the repository under Yucca Mountain, located in the heart of the Nevada desert, 90 miles north of Las Vegas. After approximately $15 billion has been spent on the project and federal courts across the country have reiterated the federal government’s obligation to store the waste, President Obama is intent on killing the Yucca Mountain repository.
Don’t Let Trade Adjustment Assistance Block Free Trade
George Bernard Shaw once said that if you laid all the world’s economists end to end, they still would not come to a conclusion. On most issues, from the effects of fiscal stimulus, to ideal tax rates, to the appropriate size of government, he was probably right. For every right-leaning Milton Friedman there has long been an equally leftist John Kenneth Galbraith. But there is one issue on which the vast majority of economists speak with one supportive voice: free trade.
USPS in Disarray
The problems facing the United States Postal Service (USPS) are legion. On May 11, 2011 five USPS supervisors from Michigan and Ohio were charged with taking bribes consisting of cash, cars, drinks, and lap dances. In return, the supervisors directed vehicle maintenance work worth $13 million to a contractor. A manager of a postal vehicle center in Detroit received “thousands of dollars in drinks and lap dances at a local strip club, more than $8,000 in free work done on a relative’s truck, and a $3,000 paver patio installed in the manager’s backyard,” in addition to a weekly visit from a prostitute, paid for by the contractor.
States Need More Flexibility, Fewer Mandates to Manage Medicaid
Lawmakers are scrambling to address the staggering $14.29 trillion national debt and a vote to raise the debt ceiling is fast approaching. While legislators negotiate cuts to discretionary spending, they must also consider making significant reforms to the nation’s growing entitlement programs.
Don’t Get Fooled Again – Auto Bailouts Still Stink
On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) unveiled a video that can only be described as the first Obama-for-President advertisement of the 2012 election cycle. The video purports to skewer likely presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Newt Gingrich over their opposition to the auto industry bailouts of 2009. Since General Motors (GM) and Chrysler have graciously paid back some of the money that taxpayers were forced to loan to them two years ago, Democrats are seizing this opportunity to try to make critics of the bailouts look bad. In so doing, they ignore the case against bailing out private companies, misleading claims by Chrysler, and the remaining losses that will come from the taxpayers’ investment in GM.
Congress and GSE Reform: “Ready, Fire, Aim”?
Home sales are still abysmal and are expected to fall further. Foreclosures continue unabated, no end in sight. According to RealtyTrac, “there are 872,000 homes that have been repossessed by lenders, but have yet to be sold.” Sales of distressed homes, properties already owned by banks or in some stage of foreclosure, have slipped lower, and there is talk among the financial services experts of a double dip in the housing market.
Despite Federal Largesse, Educational Performance Remains Unchanged
On May 16, President Obama traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to deliver the commencement address for graduates of Booker T. Washington High School. The school has had notable improvements in academic performance, and won the administration’s Race to the Top Commencement Challenge. The president seemed to use the opportunity to arrogate some credit for the students’ accomplishments: