In anticipation of the rapid passage of a $1 trillion stimulus package as soon as President-elect Obama and the new Congress take office in January, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released its wish-list of what it called “shovel-ready” projects that the Conference claims can be completed in 2009 and 2010 and will create 847,000 new jobs. With taxpayers already experiencing the worst holiday season in years, this is another big lump of coal in their stockings.
New Grace Commission Needed
Just five days after his historic election, President-elect Obama vowed to review every Executive Order signed by President Bush during the past eight years. He made it clear that he intends to overturn some of them.
The President-elect should take his time during his review, as some Executive Orders are quite worthwhile. For example, on June 30, 1982, President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order 12369, establishing the President’s Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, and asked private businessman J. Peter Grace to chair what has become popularly known as the Grace Commission. One hundred and sixty-one top executives, assisted by 2,000 volunteers from the private sector, contributed more than $75 million worth of their time and resources to examine all major federal programs and agencies. In January 1984, the Grace Commission’s work culminated in a 47-volume report containing 2,478 recommendations to save taxpayers $424.4 billion over three years.
2008 Prime Cuts is a Guide to Cut Spending
With the election on November 4th looming, both Presidential candidates have pledged to go through the budget line by line to find wasteful spending. Whoever wins could save a lot of time by reading Citizens Against Government Waste’s 2008 Prime Cuts, a list of 700 recommendations that would save $27 billion on one year and $1.2 trillion over five years. The new President will inherit a $455 billion deficit from fiscal year 2008 and be staring at a possible $1 trillion deficit for fiscal year 2009. There’s no room for new programs and plenty of incentive to cut those that are ineffective, duplicative, or wasteful.
ACORN: Taxpayer Seed Money Underwriting Corruption and Voter Fraud?
Voter registration and vote fraud is once again front and center as November 4 approaches. As in previous elections, the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now, or ACORN, is at the center of political and legal storms.
Incensed Over Incentives
H.R. 3221, the housing bailout bill that President Bush signed on July 23, 2008 is a $300 billion handout to home builders, mortgage companies who made bad loans and borrowers who took loans for homes they could not afford. The bill was exacerbated by the last-minute inclusion of a potential $25 billion (or more) taxpayer subsidy for the nation’s two mammoth government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Despite claims that the money would not be used, the taxpayers may be on the hook sooner rather than never. It turns out that there were other nasty surprises tucked into the bill as well.
Earmark Disclosure: Slow but Steady
“Will you disclose the earmarks that you have requested, Representative?”
Special Interests Before Taxpayers
For many years, the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General have issued report after report pointing out that Medicare pays too much for durable medical equipment (DME). DME includes walkers, wheelchairs, and portable oxygen equipment. Unfortunately for taxpayers, Medicare’s fee schedule is not based on competitive market prices.
GSE Monster Mash-up
On Friday, July 11, the nation’s two largest housing government-sponsored enterprises (GSE), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, began a precipitous stock slide that stirred a mini-panic on Wall Street and among government officials. There was a frantic bid to craft a government rescue plan over the weekend. On Monday, federal officials rushed to the nearest open microphone to reassure the nation that these mortgage behemoths were in no real danger of going belly up.
Federal Government – The Ideal Tenant?
Apparently, the federal government has an aversion to commitment, at least in terms of property. According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on January 24, 2008, for the first time in history the federal government is predicted to lease more property than it owns. Based upon information gathered from the General Services Administration (GSA), which handles many of the government’s leases, from 2003 to 2006, federally-leased space increased from 160 million square feet to 172 million square feet; conversely, federally-owned space decreased from 180 million square feet to 174 million square feet.
Department of Defense and Lavish Expenditures
What do earmarks for $10 million for the National World War Two Museum in New Orleans, $18 million for a chapel in Fort Hood, and $5 million for a fence near San Diego have in common? The House of Representatives deemed them to be important enough to include as earmarks in the committee report on H.R. 5658, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2009.