In November, 2006, just after the sweeping victory by Democrats in the House of Representatives, the newly-minted Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) promised that her leadership team would create “the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history.” This seems like ancient history now. Since then, the House has been rocked by several allegations of unethical conduct. Yet, the House leadership’s general reaction to the ethical violations that seem to bloom almost daily appear to follow a pattern of partisan posturing and denial, followed immediately by paralysis, and ending with little or no accountability.
Obama’s Earmark Reform? ShamWow!
On March 11, 2009 President Obama signed the fiscal year (FY) 2009 omnibus appropriations bill, which contained the nine remaining 2009 spending bills worth $410 billion. After making dizzying campaign promises to eliminate congressional earmarking once he won the Oval Office, the President, out of the sight of the media, signed a bill containing thousands earmarks and schooled taxpayers on his new and revised view of earmarks.
Byrneing Down the House
The so-called “stimulus” bill signed by President Obama on February 17 has come under withering fire for being rife with wasteful boondoggles whose purposes are increasingly deemed to be more politically motivated than economically sound. The bill contains funding for dozens of new programs and exorbitant plus-ups for many existing programs. For example, buried in the depths of the leviathan-like bill is $2 billion for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. In addition to the “stimulus” funding, Congress intends to include more money for the program in the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2010 appropriations bills as well.
Stimulus Bill Raises Questions
As the current version of the stimulus bill awaits a Senate vote and President Obama’s signature, there are still plenty of questions and concerns about whether it will in fact stimulate the economy and create jobs. As House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) states on his website, “We need a bill that creates jobs….” One would think that this would be the goal, except it’s not always the case with this stimulus package.
Troubles With TARP
Barely sixty days after its establishment, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is itself, well, in big trouble.
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.
The “Not-So-Big Three” Beg for a Bailout
The so-called “Big Three” domestic automakers, General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford have kicked into overdrive to lobby Congress to salvage what is left of their business operations using taxpayer funds. General Motors, which has entered negative cash-flow territory, is widely predicted to go belly-up unless it receives massive infusions of money. Analysts predict that GM’s demise would drag the other two down as well. After two days of contentious hearings on Capital Hill on November 18 and 19, auto executives departed without a deal and, at least for now, Congress has slammed the brakes on a straight bailout. Instead, lawmakers have tasked automakers with furnishing a detailed plan for long-term industry “viability and sustainability” before any legislative action is taken.
Medicare Fraud: Not a New Story
Just before the August congressional break, I was asked to testify before a forum on Medicare fraud that was chaired by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Sen. Martinez introduced S. 3164, the Seniors and Taxpayers Obligation Protection Act (STOP) of 2008, a bill that does several things to address the continuing problem of out-of-control fraud in the Medicare program.
“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.
Earmarks Invade DC
An op-ed in the May 17 Washington Post by Colbert King showed that earmarks know no boundaries. King cited $56 million in projects in the District of Columbia’s budget that were “initiated and approved by the [city] council without extensive executive branch review.”