During a time of record annual budget deficits and public debt, the country, more than ever, needs solutions to its fiscal problems. Most taxpayers were expecting the President’s State of the Union speech to signal a major policy shift, away from rampant government spending and toward private sector solutions to the nation’s fiscal woes. Instead they heard the President pay lip service to a few spending issues and introduce more programs for which taxpayers will be responsible. In short, it was a major disappointment.
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.
Cut Corporate Income Taxes
America has been called the land of opportunity largely because it has been a place where businesses and individuals prosper. This has been the result of a stable government, an educated workforce, protection of intellectual property, and a tax rate that historically has been low. Unfortunately, taxes are now going in the wrong direction.
The Consumer Police and Sin Taxes
There have always been and will always be some people who believe they know what is best for everyone, so they try to force their will on the rest of society. This attitude is very much at odds withthe philosophy that liberty should be maximized and that people should be allowed to live their lives as they would like as long as they are not infringing on the rights of others.In recent years, the “we know best” crowd has expanded the number of activities that they believe need policing far beyond the traditional sins that have been targeted for decades and even centuries.
Extending Bush Era Tax Cuts Will Aid the Economic Recovery
One of the more spirited public policy debates that hasunfolded leading into the midterm elections has been what Congress should do with the Bush-era tax cuts,which are set to expire at the end of this year. President Obama has stated he favors only extending tax cuts for the middle class and letting others expire, while businesses, Republicans, moderate Democrats, and taxpayer advocates maintain that anything other than a full extensionamounts to a tax increase that will only prolong the nation’s current economic woes.
Air Force Tanker Struggling to Lift Off
Replacing the aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers has been an Air Force priority since 2002. In that year, Congress approved funding for Boeing to lease up to 100 767s to replace the 50-year-old KC-135 tankers. However, the deal fell apart in a 2004 bribery scandal in which a top Pentagon procurement officer and a senior Boeing official were convicted and served prison sentences.
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.
Time to REIN in the Executive Branch
On September 22, Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) introduced the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act as the companion bill to Rep. Geoff Davis’ (R-Ky.) legislation, H.R. 3765. The DeMint legislation aims to stop costly anti-free market and job-killing regulations that are often imposed by federal agencies without any congressional oversight.
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.
Air Force Tanker Struggling to Lift Off
Replacing the aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers has been an Air Force priority since 2002. In that year, Congress approved funding for Boeing to lease up to 100 767s to replace the 50-year-old KC-135 tankers. However, the deal fell apart in a 2004 bribery scandal in which a top Pentagon procurement officer and a senior Boeing official were convicted and served prison sentences.