The WasteWatcher
The WasteWatcherBlackmail 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...
The WasteWatcherFour Myths about the Export-Import Bank
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is an independent government agency founded in 1934 in an effort to encourage U.S. exports. In 2010, Ex-Im Bank provided $24.4 billion in taxpayer-backed direct loans, guarantees, and export-...
The WasteWatcherWeatherization--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...
The WasteWatcherFuture of Earmarks Remains Vague
Predicting the future of earmarks can be a bit like peering into a crystal ball.
The WasteWatcherVictory!
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...
The WasteWatcherPlanned Spending Cuts Do Not Include Defense
One of the top priorities of the Republican’s campaign to take back Congress in 2010 was to reduce the deficit by cutting spending. Republican leaders intended to return nondefense discretionary spending to 2008 levels by trimming $100 billion in...
The WasteWatcherDoes Obamacare Save or Cost Money?
The strange world of congressional budget scoring obscures whether Obamacare saves or costs money, but it also provides insight into why the federal government is in such a financial mess. Revenue and cost figures are thrown about in an attempt to...
The WasteWatcherHigh-Speed Rail off the Tracks
When stumping for Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) in October 2010, Vice President Joe Biden made a telling statement regarding the government’s role in investments. He credited the government with “every single great idea that has marked the 21st century,...
The WasteWatcherNew House Rules Focus Members on Making Serious Spending Cuts
On election day, taxpayers turned out in droves to support fiscally conservative candidates that they entrusted with the responsibility of cutting the federal budget, reducing the size of the national debt, and returning Congress to the hands of the...
The WasteWatcherObama’s SOTU, Yet Another Disappointment for Taxpayers
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...
The WasteWatcherFederal Housing Administration: The Next Big Fannie?
In the upcoming session of the 112th Congress, lawmakers will be faced with the daunting challenge of what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation’s two mortgage giants. These government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) have been under...
The WasteWatcherNet Loss
For many years there has been a vigorous debate on the pros and cons of net neutrality. On December 21, 2010, the nation took a technological step backwards when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to institute net neutrality rules on...
