With the economy in recession, a national debt of $10.6 trillion, and a record estimated deficit of $1.2 trillion for the fiscal year, it seems a strange time for Congress to be receiving a raise, yet that is exactly what is scheduled to happen as the new session begins.
Congressional Oversight Needs Improvement
The House and Senate convened for the 111th Congress facing a record budget deficit and are currently considering a massive “stimulus” spending package. Now, more than ever, increased oversight of federal programs is essential to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent effectively. Congress has for far too long failed to adequately perform its oversight responsibilities. While holding more hearings would be helpful, this in and of itself is no guarantee that problems will be identified and corrected. The Obama Administration has promised oversight of how the stimulus money is spent, including the establishment of a new “recovery” website, but that will only happen after hundreds of billions of tax dollars go out the door and only address that legislation. The President has also appointed a chief performance officer in the White House.
A Word of Caution for President Obama
President Obama and Congress are in the process of putting together a “stimulus” package in order to spur the economy and create or save 3 million jobs. The House of Representative’s proposal contained $275 billion in tax cuts and $526 billion in “carefully targeted priority investments” for a total cost of $820 billion. It would be better to call it a de-stimulus package because each of the 3 to 4 million jobs that the President and his allies claim to be saving and creating will cost taxpayers about $275,000.
580,000 Square-Foot Money Pit
On Tuesday, December 2, the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) opened its doors to its owners – the taxpayers – for the first time. After six years of construction and countless revisions, what seemed like a never-ending project has finally reached completion. While the CVC provides new services for visitors and a nice view of the Capitol, it is the $621 million price tag that has been making news.
USDA Makes $49 Million in Payments to Ineligible Individuals
In October, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report titled “Federal Farm Programs: USDA Needs to Strengthen Controls to Prevent Payments to Individuals Who Exceed Income Eligibility Limits.” The report was requested by Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.
Troubles With TARP
Barely sixty days after its establishment, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is itself, well, in big trouble.
The Mayors’ Stocking Stuffers
In anticipation of the rapid passage of a $1 trillion stimulus package as soon as President-elect Obama and the new Congress take office in January, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released its wish-list of what it called “shovel-ready” projects that the Conference claims can be completed in 2009 and 2010 and will create 847,000 new jobs. With taxpayers already experiencing the worst holiday season in years, this is another big lump of coal in their stockings.
Fat Corporate Welfare Payouts
On November 4, 2008 Barack Obama won the battle for the Presidency. On January 20, 2008, he will face many difficult challenges. The national economic and financial crisis will place a heavy burden on the federal government. With a $1 trillion budget deficit projected for the current fiscal year, and a federal debt spiraling past $10 trillion, President-elect Obama ought to be preparing to trim some serious fat. Throughout his campaign, he pledged to go through the budget line-by-line in order to cut wasteful spending. While there are multiple of ways to attack government waste, eliminating corporate welfare programs should be one of President-elect Obama’s top priorities.
CAGW’s Project: Privacy
Project: Privacy was created in 2008 and is affiliated with Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).
CAGW’s Project: Privacy will examine government’s role in ensuring that every person’s information is protected and help citizens manage their privacy. Through education and coalition building, Project: Privacy will build a bi-partisan network of groups and individuals to recommend effective privacy policy at all levels of government.
The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars
On November 17, 2008 the Washington Post reported that President-elect Obama “wooed” federal employees in seven federal agencies at the behest of American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO President John Gage. The Post stated that the Obama letters provided “more specifics than he did on the campaign trail” about changes he would make at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Departments of Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Labor, Veterans Affairs, the Social Security and the Transportation Security Administrations if he became President. Only the Defense Department was not assured of any increase in spending, just a promise to revise the National Security Personnel System, which was the Bush administration’s attempt to modernize the DOD civil service system.