When House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) announced his plans to wait until closed-door conference committee meetings between the House and Senate to insert earmarks into spending bills, he declared, “I don’t give a damn if people criticize me or not.”
FEMA and Trading Spaces
When a participant goes on the popular Learning Channel show Trading Spaces, they have two days to redesign a room in the home of a friend or family member. They must remain under budget throughout the process. Conversely, when FEMA decides to remodel, it tends to extend projects indefinitely and ignore budget limitations. Nonetheless, fans of the home improvement show might still enjoy FEMA’s project along the Gulf Coast.
College Town Poverty – Ramen Noodles AGAIN?
It’s an early afternoon on a crisp fall day in an average college town. In preparation for the game, young professionals are piling into local bars and restaurants to see their alma mater play. The late risers are lining up at the numerous downtown coffee shops to inject some caffeine prior to kickoff. After the game, there are more festivities – food, drinks, and celebration.
Nothing seems out of the ordinary, until one learns that the federal government occasionally labels such towns as among the poorest in the country. This backwards fact is made possible by the government’s formula that determines distribution of anti-poverty funds.
Spending Database is a Big Victory for Taxpayers
On September 18, Congress finally passed S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. But this victory for taxpayers was not won without controversy and confronting shenanigans caused by spendthrift porkers in the Senate.
Our Federal Government: Making a Bad Situation Worse
The benevolent federal government has found a way to spend almost one billion dollars exposing its citizens to a deadly carcinogen in the name of a humanitarian effort.
Proposed Merger Threatens Taxpayers and Launch Market
Ronald Reagan once said, “The … inescapable truth is: government does not have all the answers. In too many instances, government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.”
Swimming in Pork
House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) went off the deep end recently when he earmarked a whopping $1 million for a swimming pool in his district. Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate act as the gatekeepers to the lucrative business of earmarks and, as chairman, Rep. Lewis holds noteworthy influence to tack on pet projects to bills in a way that is not subject to debate or oversight.
“Buy America” Rips Off America
“Buy America” provisions have been insterted into legislation, especially defense bills, for many years. Usually, such provisions are removed from the final version of the defense legislation. That happened late last year, when Senate leaders and administration officials convinced House Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunger (R-Calif.) to drop the provision from the fiscal 2006 Defense Authorization Act, which was then signed into law by President Bush. The Buy America clause would have blocked the Pentagon from buying military equipment from international companies that receive government subsidies. The removal of this language constitutes a victory for taxpayers and national security. More competition in Defense procurement can only result in better value for taxpayers and improved equipment for military personnel.