On November 18, 2012, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) told Politico that spending cuts triggered by the “fiscal cliff” projected to take effect on January 1 would be “devastating,” and that they would “really compromise our domestic security and our capacity to respond to emergencies and disasters like [Superstorm Sandy].” For that bit of scare-mongering, Sen. Lieberman was named Citizens Against Government Waste’s (CAGW) Porker of the Month.
GM Bailout Could Get Much Worse
WasteWatcher, January, 2013
More Oversight Needed for our Veterans
By: Tom Miller On January 24, 2011, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a report detailing the improper benefits given to disabled veterans. The report discussed temporary 100 percent benefits, which the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is supposed to continually monitor and reduce when necessary and […]
Identity Fraud Hits Taxpayers in the Wallet
Luke Gelber For many years, it has been clear that identity theft is a grave threat to the fiscal sovereignty of millions of Americans. For its victims, many of whom are saddled with the new and unwelcome full-time job of battling fraudulent credit card charges and mounting debt, normal life can seem a long way […]
No Last-Minute Delivery on Postal Reform
By Leslie Paige WasteWatcher, December, 2012 The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced on November 15, 2012 that in fiscal year (FY) 2012, which ended on September 30, the agency lost a record $15.9 billion. In June, 2012 at a PostalVision 2020 conference in Washington, Postmaster General (PMG) Patrick Donahoe flatly stated that if the […]
Defense Waste: The Final Frontier
Sean Kennedy As the country careens toward the automatic year-end program cuts and expiration of tax breaks labeled “the fiscal cliff,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has been on the offensive, releasing reports in consecutive months highlighting wasteful spending in government. The November Wastewatcher detailed Sen. Coburn’s Wastebook 2012, which targeted 100 projects costing taxpayers more […]
Amtrak: Throw Money from the Train
Since 1971, the federal government has been subsidizing the for-profit passenger rail system Amtrak. The company received $1.4 billion in 2012, and the House of Representatives increased its appropriation to $1.8 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2013. With a trillion dollar deficit and the national debt at a record $16.2 trillion, federal funding for Amtrak […]
Chevy Volts Fail to Electrify Customers
In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character, Ray Kinsella, is on the brink of bankruptcy and debates whether or not it is completely absurd to build a baseball field in his cornfield and expect people to come watch games played by ghosts of former players. In a famous scene, Kinsella is walking in his backyard when he hears a mysterious voice call out, “if you build it, they will come.”
Weatherization—Money Continues to Pour
It has been three and a half years since Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and the wasted money in this bill has taken its toll on taxpayers. President Obama and cheerleaders for the $838 billion stimulus promised it would be the antidote to a floundering economy, creating anywhere from “thousands and thousands” of jobs to 3.5 million jobs, depending upon which Obama administration spokesperson was making the rounds on the Sunday morning talk shows.
Special Access is all About the Data
The special access marketplace provides dedicated high-capacity connections that serve voice and data needs for smaller carriers, large businesses and government through lease agreements with larger telecommunications providers. In 1999, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to deregulate the special access marketplace, which has helped to spur growth and innovation in all areas of telecommunications. […]