On July 29, 2008, it was announced that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had been indicted by the Justice Department on seven counts of making false statements for failing to disclose $250,000 worth of gifts from a contractor.
Incensed Over Incentives
H.R. 3221, the housing bailout bill that President Bush signed on July 23, 2008 is a $300 billion handout to home builders, mortgage companies who made bad loans and borrowers who took loans for homes they could not afford. The bill was exacerbated by the last-minute inclusion of a potential $25 billion (or more) taxpayer subsidy for the nation’s two mammoth government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Despite claims that the money would not be used, the taxpayers may be on the hook sooner rather than never. It turns out that there were other nasty surprises tucked into the bill as well.
Caution: Porkers at Work
While summer has almost come to an end, the only appropriations bill that has come to a full vote in either chamber of Congress this year is the Military Construction-VA spending bill (H.R. 6599). The action taken on this bill, however, offers a preview of what taxpayers can expect with the eleven remaining spending bills.
Spratt Flip-Flops on Line-Item Veto
Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.) chose politics over pork-busting when he switched his vote on the line-item veto bill in June. The ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee dutifully followed the partisan orders of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to vote against any Republican budget reform, even one that is proven to save taxpayer money and that Spratt had been a high-profile sponsor of in the past.
Special Interests Before Taxpayers
For many years, the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General have issued report after report pointing out that Medicare pays too much for durable medical equipment (DME). DME includes walkers, wheelchairs, and portable oxygen equipment. Unfortunately for taxpayers, Medicare’s fee schedule is not based on competitive market prices.
GSE Monster Mash-up
On Friday, July 11, the nation’s two largest housing government-sponsored enterprises (GSE), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, began a precipitous stock slide that stirred a mini-panic on Wall Street and among government officials. There was a frantic bid to craft a government rescue plan over the weekend. On Monday, federal officials rushed to the nearest open microphone to reassure the nation that these mortgage behemoths were in no real danger of going belly up.
Earmark Disclosure: Slow but Steady
“Will you disclose the earmarks that you have requested, Representative?”
Deadly Earmarks
Earmarks can be deadly, according to Air Force Reserve Maj. Eric Egland. Egland, a counter-terrorism operative, military intelligence officer and Iraq War veteran, wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Times on July 2 asserting that national security earmarks are being abused, with disastrous consequences.
Appropriations Gone Awry
Traditionally, summer is appropriations season on Capitol Hill. The core twelve spending bills – Agriculture; Commerce/Justice/Science; Defense; Energy & Water; Financial Services; Homeland Security; Interior & Environment; Labor/HHS/Education; Legislative Branch; Military Construction/Veterans Affairs; State/Foreign Operations; and Transportation/Housing & Urban Development – usually have worked their way through the legislative process, and have been signed by […]
“Emergency” Supplementals
“Hope for the best, but plan for the worst” is the approach most Americans try to take when it comes to setting aside funds for a rainy day. For the government, however, national emergencies, and the supplemental appropriations bills that tend to accompany these emergencies, have become just another excuse to spend money on non-emergency, routine projects and favored pork-barrel items that failed to win funding through the normal appropriations process.