After years of feeding at the trough, it appears that some members of Congress are not adapting well to the newly imposed two-year earmark moratorium. Despite affirmation by congressional leaders that earmarks will not exist in the 112th Congress, the pork addicts are chafing under the new strictures.
Blackmail to Avoid Blackouts is Not Sound Policy
Imagine that you’re settling in to watch your favorite must-see-TV when your station de jour abruptly goes black. You suddenly can’t watch the big game, or the American Idol finale or (fill in your “can’t-live-without-it” show here). How could this possibly happen? You try rebooting your cable box as you frantically flip through the TV guide to make sure it’s really Super Bowl Sunday.
Victory!
On February 16, 2011 taxpayers and the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) scored a major victory when the House of Representatives voted 233-198 to kill funding for the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter as part of H.R. 1, the Full-Year Continuing Resolution (CR) for fiscal year (FY) 2011. The CR, which cut $100 billion from President Obama’s FY 2011 budget (equal to $61 billion from fiscal year 2010 approved spending levels), was approved by a vote of 235-189. The CR contained 61 spending cuts worth $9.9 billion were either identical or similar to recommendations in CAGW’s Prime Cuts.
Future of Earmarks Remains Vague
Predicting the future of earmarks can be a bit like peering into a crystal ball.
Weatherization–More Money, Blowin’ in the Wind
February 17, 2011 marked the two-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the so-called stimulus package. Needless to say, the contrived celebratory fanfare that characterized the one-year anniversary last year has now given way to the dull realization that the $862 billion program has been an abject failure. The oft-repeated promise that the stimulus money would be tracked to the very last dime has become the butt of late-night talk shows and taxpayers are left to wonder where all the money went.
Fiscal Commission: The First Step in a Journey of a Thousand Miles
On February 18, 2010 President Obama set up a bipartisan panel to address the deficit and debt. Dubbed the National Commission on Fiscal Reform and Integrity, the effort was co-chaired by former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson (R-Wy.).
State Piglet Roundup
In conjunction with state taxpayer groups, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released sixPiglet Books in 2010. The Piglet Books bring CAGW’s national expertise in exposing waste, fraud and abuse to the state and local levels.
Pork on Life Support: Time to Pull the Plug
Save America’s Treasures was one of the 60 programs proposed for elimination in President Obama’s 2011 Terminations, Reductions, and Savings report. Released in February 2010, the report recommended the elimination of the program because it “has not demonstrated how it contributes to nationwide historic preservation goals.” Its demise would allow the National Park Service to“focus resources on managing national parks and other activities that most closely align with its core mission.” Citizens Against Government Waste has long criticized the program, which has been the source of tens of millions of dollars in pork since 2001.
Another Sour Note for Taxpayers
Government watchdogs are familiar with how the federal government squanders billions of dollars a year on duplicative, expensive, and non-essentialgovernment programs. Now taxpayers have a new reason to be disturbed; aSeptember 6, 2010Washington Postarticlereported that approximately half a billion dollars is being wasted by the Pentagon on military bands.
Billions Wasted in Iraq
When President Obama marked the end of combat operations in Iraq in a speech on August 31, 2010, he spoke at length on America’s lasting legacy in the country. Unfortunately for taxpayers, part of that legacy includes billions in waste, dating back to the beginning of the reconstruction effort.