Fiscal year (FY) 2013 just ended and federal agencies enjoyed a shopping spree.
This spending binge occurred because at the end of every fiscal year agencies are incentivized to spend the remaining money in their budgets in order to justify a similar or increased budget for the following year. This phenomenon, known as “spend it or lose it,” leads not only to wasteful spending, but to poor investments and awful management at the federal level.
On Sunday, September 25, when asked by host Candy Crowley about why President Obama and House and Senate Democrats are so utterly opposed to negotiating over the debt ceiling by exploring additional deficit reduction and spending cuts (as almost every previous president has), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared on CNN’s Sunday show State of the Union that “the cupboard is bare…there’s no more cuts to make.”
While the focus of the press and Washington has been on passing a continuing resolution and a government shutdown, the White House pulled the usual Washington D.C. public affairs stunt when you don’t wont bad or controversial news to be discussed broadly. It releases the news on a Friday afternoon. According to several news reports, last […]
A few months back my 20-something niece was complaining about how Congress, in particular the Republican House, was just not cooperating with President Obama over spending, taxes, and government-investments like bridges and green energy. She said the current system was broken and that we needed something new so things could be done quickly. I said, […]
On Sunday, when asked about deficit reduction, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) declared on CNN’s Sunday show State of the Union that “the cupboard is bare…there’s no more cuts to make.” This shocking quote reminded me of Tom Delay (R-TX), former House Majority Leader, who said in 2005 that there is “no fat” left […]
A recent General Accountability Office (GAO) report, “Disability Insurance – Work Activity Indicates Certain Social Security Disability Payments Were Potentially Improper” reminds us that Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is the nation’s largest cash assistance program. In light of that, it is no surprise then that the congressional watchdog agency estimates that the Social Security […]
Government waste, fraud, and abuse are a scourge on American taxpayers and a multi-billion dollar insult to the federal budget, but preventing improper payments, particularly in Medicare, is now running into roadblocks despite being a rare example of success. Medicare providers, particularly hospitals, which have for years received billions in improper overpayments, now fully appreciate […]
Today, the President gave a speech on the five-year anniversary of the financial meltdown and claimed his policies of government “investments” and intrusion into the private sector, higher taxes, and more regulations have helped the economy turn the corner. He called for more government spending as he claimed, yet again, turning the economy around is his top […]
It seems that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew may have created another form of “new math.” According to CNSNews.com, the U.S. Treasury has not reported an increase in the debt for the entire month of August. It has remained at the same level every day since May. As CNSNews points out, “that makes 112 days that, […]
The 113th Congress is headed toward a very humble place in the record books by passing the fewest number of bills signed into law since that statistic was first tracked more than 70 years ago. Thus far, the House and Senate have passed only 15 bills, including one all-important piece of legislation that specified “the size of precious-metal blanks that will be used in the production of the National Baseball Hall of Fame commemorative coins.” The current record low of 220 bills was set in the 112th Congress.
