Washington’s next fiscal giveaway: a bailout for wealthy homeowners living along risky, hurricane-prone coastlines. Attempting to find a solution to rising homeowners’ insurance rates, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on July 2, 2009 to discuss the Homeowners’ Defense Act as a possible solution.
Stimulating the Dead
When the federal government decided to spend $787 billion to stimulate the economy in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), most Americans understood, contrary to most of the tough talk about accountability and transparency, that a percentage of these funds would be wasted. To try and assuage these fears, Congress and Obama Administration declared that the stimulus money would be focused on “shovel ready” projects.
Public vs. Private: May the Best Contractor Win
The government should not compete with its citizens; it should rely on the private sector for commercially-available goods and services. This is a common-sense idea: allow individuals, small businesses, and entrepreneurial companies to contract with the government, instead of creating duplicative and expensive government-run agencies and programs.
Obama’s $106 Billion War Supplemental
On April 9, 2009, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a summary of the administration’s proposed fiscal year 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act, stating that it “is the last planned war supplemental.” In the bill, President Obama sought $83.4 billion to fund “ongoing military, diplomatic, and intelligence operations.” The OMB release stated that “the President will not tolerate it being turning into a vehicle for political projects. He has made it very clear to Congress that he will not accept any earmarks in the bill – and he will not tolerate the bill being loaded up with unrelated items. The era of irresponsibility is ending.”
Obama Administration Proposal Would Cost U.S. Jobs
The Obama administration keeps coming forward with proposals that would undermine the economic recovery even as it claims to be trying to save it. At least $1 trillion has been spent to supposedly “stimulate” the economy and the budget deficit is at a record level. Yet, the economic gurus within the executive branch have floated another proposal that is both incongruous and counterproductive.
Healthcare Reform: A Pricey Prescription
President Obama promised this would be the year of health care reform, but many are bracing for what this “reform” could really mean. After much anticipation, Democrats have started to unveil their healthcare reform plans, revealing new policy proposals that would, among other things, expand Medicaid, impose individual and employer mandates, enlarge the almost bankrupt Medicare program, create a new government-run healthcare plan, and cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years. The overall result will inevitably be higher taxes, less patient choice, and ultimately, rationing of care.
California’s $7 Billion Bailout?
When Congress debates California’s requested $7 billion bailout, instead of looking at the benefits it could bring California, they first need to look at the source of the problem and understand the reasons why the state is in such trouble. Citizens and business owners in California are outraged that the state government continues to raise taxes while refusing to eliminate wasteful spending.
British Expense Scandal Should be Lesson for U.S. Lawmakers
The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) in Great Britain was founded in 2004 by Andrew Allum, Matthew Elliott and Florence Heath to “represent taxpayers and to fight for lower taxes.” Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has been working with the organization on a wide variety of issues, including more transparency in government for British taxpayers.
A “Generic” Call for Change
As Congress braces for the largest reform of healthcare in the nation’s history, lost in the debate has been an issue critical to federal and state healthcare budgets, as well as the ability of consumers to afford lifesaving drugs. The issue is whether Congress should grant generic makers of the next generation of medications called “biologics” the same regulatory approval treatment it did for chemical drugs under the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act.
Waxman and Markey Attempt to Go Green, But Put Taxpayers in the Red
On May 21, 2009, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACESA), which was co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Energy and the Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Among other environmental regulations, the legislation calls for the implementation of a burdensome cap-and-trade system. This byzantine system proposes that the government grant tradable allowances for each ton of pollution emitted into the atmosphere to such entities as electric utilities, oil companies, and large industrial sources. The program decreases the number of available allowances issued each year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on 2005 levels by 3 percent in 2012, 17 percent in 2020, 42 percent in 2030, and 83 percent in 2050.