In today’s Congressional Quarterly, the headline reads, “Senate Democrats Weigh Sequester-Replacement Plans for September Votes” immediately followed by “the White House tries to broker a bipartisan budget deal with a small group of Republicans.” We who favor reducing the size of government need to be vigilant the next few months as Congress begins to negotiate […]
Ho Hum
Yesterday, the President traveled to Tennessee to discuss his “new” proposal for spurring on the economy and creating jobs. He proposes to lower the corporate tax rate and simplify the tax code by closing tax “loopholes.” Currently, the federal tax rate in the U.S. for corporations is 35%, one of the highest among industrialized nations. […]
I See Dead People
A Government Accountability Office report released June 28 has an eye catching headline, “USDA Needs to Do More to Prevent Improper Payments to Deceased Individuals.” Yup, here we go again, our government using our tax dollars to pay dead people. The GAO discusses in its report how the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) doles out […]
Gridlock is Good
Last week, the NBC News and the WSJ released a poll on Congress’s and President Obama’s approval ratings. The Wall Street Journal states, “Rising frustration over partisan gridlock in Washington has damaged faith both in President Barack Obama and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, with disapproval of Congress hitting an all-time high.” According the results, some […]
A Big Nuthin Burger
Yesterday and today, the President pivoted for the 19th time to the economy and gave a one hour-plus speech on the economy. On Wednesday, his first stop was Knox College in Illinois where he gave a commencement address in 2005. Many news reports prior to the event predicted the President wouldn’t come up with any […]
Unions Wake Up from their Four-Year Slumber
Well, who would have thought that the very unions that spent millions of dollars to get Obamacare signed into law are now complaining to Democrat leaders in Congress about the same law, telling them, “We have a problem; you need to fix it.” In the letter to Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader […]
Flying High on the Tax Payers
I am one who appreciates our military and wants it to be strong and effective. Under our Constitution, one of the main purposes of the federal government is to “provide for the common defense.” But that does not mean that Congress and the Defense Department cannot root out wasteful spending. Here is a good example […]
E-Rate Program Reform To Take Center Stage at FCC
On Friday, July 19, 2013, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be meeting to discuss, among other items, reforms to the Universal Service Fund (USF)’ E-Rate program, which was highlighted in the July edition of Wastewatcher. It is expected that the outcome of this meeting will be a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to […]
On the Hook for More Bailouts
On July 9, 2013, the Financial Stability Oversight Council voted to categorize American International Group (AIG) and GE Capital as systemically important according to a Washington Post article on the same day. The designations were provided for by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act after the financial crisis of 2008. AIG came […]
Brand USA: a Gravy Train Keeps Rolling
On the increasingly rare occasion that Congress gets around to passing a bill, it is not at all uncommon for the final version to include measures that bear no relation to the legislation’s title or stated intent.