The WasteWatcher
The WasteWatcherDraft Dairy Reforms Would Hurt Consumers, Add Bureaucracy and Increase Taxes
Draft legislation by House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) proposes new dairy programs that will cost thousands of jobs and increase the price of milk and other dairy products. With high unemployment levels and...
The WasteWatcherGetting Program Management Back on Track
After reviewing information technology (IT) program management at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Assistant Secretary for the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) Roger Baker decided to change the way VA manages IT development, and...
The WasteWatcherSolyndra Scorches Taxpayers
It is a shame that the Obama administration didn’t pay as much attention to the details of Solyndra’s business plans and financial liabilities as it did to the details of the President’s photo op at the company’s facility on May 26, 2010. Given the...
The WasteWatcherZombie Budget: Payments to the Deceased
Halloween is around the corner, which means that in the coming weeks it will be more important than ever to be on the lookout for signs of the zombie apocalypse. Should those signs start to appear, any possible advantage for the living over the...
The WasteWatcherThe Shovel-Ready Jobs Swindle
The money would be spent on a variety of infrastructure projects, such as improved highways, railways, and transit systems. The national infrastructure bank, according to Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), would end up functioning as a “public private...
The WasteWatcherWithout Major Reforms, SSDI Program Headed for Insolvency
According to a June 14, 2011 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) trust fund is on track to run out of money by 2018. Although the SSDI’s financial woes have been exacerbated by a dramatic...
The WasteWatcherSlash Spending Now!
President Obama was quite clear on his expectations for a deal to raise the debt limit: “The only bottom line that I have is that we have to extend this debt ceiling through the next election, into 2013.” While the President blatantly telegraphed...
The WasteWatcherTo Honor The Fallen, Stop Wasting Money
When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, lawmakers decreed that the new House and Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittees would not accept earmark...
The WasteWatcherTechnology Policy Update
On August 16, 2011, CAGW recently filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on a petition from the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) seeking clarification on the commission’s interpretation of Section 652...
The WasteWatcherMulti-Billion Dollar CMS Overpayments Continue; Efficiency Programs Fail Spectacularly
On June 30, 2011, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report about the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’s (CMS) incompetence in curtailing waste, fraud, and abuse. For more than 20 years, GAO has deemed Medicare a high-...
The WasteWatcherFCC Continues to Forge Ahead with Net Neutrality Regulations
On July 11, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order No. 13579 to improve and reform the regulatory process for government agencies. How this Executive Order will be implemented remains to be seen, as some agencies are forging ahead with costly...
The WasteWatcherThe Senate Budget Committee – A Story of Failed Leadership
Congress is statutorily obligated to pass a budget by October 1 of each year; yet, as of August 1, 2011, it has been 824 days since the Senate last passed a budget (April 29, 2009). Lawmakers have abdicated their duty by funding the government...
