The WasteWatcher
The WasteWatcherOn Fannie, Freddie, and the FHA, Two Steps Back
Taxpayers are both in awe of and enraged by the schizophrenic behavior of government officials and lawmakers when it comes to taking action on the nation’s thorniest public policy conundrums. Over and over, taxpayers hear the rhetoric emanating from...
The WasteWatcherAnother Failing Federal Loan Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Electrification Administration (REA) program began during the New Deal Era of the 1930’s. The program’s primary goal was to promote rural electrification to farmers and residents in out of the way...
The WasteWatcherGAO Skewers United Launch Alliance Contract Plans
The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program began in 1995 and was designed to allow the Department of Defense (DOD) access to space with the intention of reducing the cost of satellite launches by at least 25 percent while striving for up...
The WasteWatcherGovernment in the Grocery Cart: $15 Billion to Influence Consumer Behavior
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is wrought with onerous mandates, tax increases, Medicare cuts, unfunded Medicaid expansions, and numerous budgetary gimmicks. One egregious provision in the PPACA included $500 million in FY...
The WasteWatcherDismantle the USDA’s Milk Marketing Order System
Reports on the progress of Congress’s Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction in its quest to identify $1.2 trillion in savings by November 23, 2011 are decidedly mixed. An open hearing on October 26 yielded some hand-wringing, but little in the...
The WasteWatcherTime to De-friend Bad Federal Contractors
Waste and fraud among federal government contractors and vendors is nothing new. Congress after Congress has tried to put an end to the abuses to no avail. Although the number of contractors added to the Excluded Parties List System (identifying...
The WasteWatcherCongress and the Criminal CLASS
When President Obama signed his contentious healthcare bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), on March 23, 2010, his administration and a Democratic Congress had spent months convincing many lawmakers, pundits, and voters that...
The WasteWatcherEarmark Moratorium: Earmarks Live On, Transparency Does Not
Considering that an earmark moratorium is in effect, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW)’s Pork Patrol sure seems to be uncovering a lot of earmarks. When the one-year earmark moratorium was announced for fiscal year (FY) 2012, seasoned...
The WasteWatcherFCC Delivers a Turkey for Thanksgiving
Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is dropping a regulatory turkey on everyone’s doorstep. On November 20, 2011, the final rules of the “Open Internet Order,” also known as net neutrality, become...
The WasteWatcherUsing Broadband Spectrum Auctions to Reduce the Deficit
As the White House, Congress and particularly the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction look for ways to reduce spending and enhance revenues, close scrutiny is being given to both the allocation of broadband spectrum and the use of voluntary...
The WasteWatcherSenate Backtracks on MEADS, Supplies Earmark
Created in 1995, the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) is a collaborative missile defense project intended to replace the Patriot Missile system, which has been used by the U.S. and its allies for decades. A Memorandum of Understanding...
The WasteWatcherHearing Highlights Benefits and Challenges to Cloud Computing
On September 21, 2011, the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation held a hearing entitled “The Next IT Revolution? Cloud Computing Opportunities and Challenges.” Chaired by Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), the...
