Incensed Over Incentives
By Leslie K. Paige
The housing bailout bill that President Bush signed on July 23, 2008, H.R. 3221, 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. It turns out that there were other nasty surprises tucked into the bill as well.
Staying Healthy by Eliminating Waste
By Jonathan Slemrod
When President Bush announced the beginning of the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) during his 2003 State of the Union speech, the five-year, $15 billion measure was announced as “the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease.”
Caution: Porkers at Work
By Evan Lisulll
While summer has almost come to an end, the only appropriations bill that has come to a full vote in either chamber of Congress this year is the Fiscal 2009 Military Construction-VA Appropriations Act (H.R. 6599), which passed the House. The action taken on this bill, however, offers a preview of what taxpayers can expect with the 11 remaining spending bills.
Sen. Stevens Indicted
By Alexa Moutevelis
On July 29, 2008, it was announced that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had been indicted by the Justice Department on seven counts of making false statements for failing to disclose $250,000 worth of gifts from a contractor.
Filed under: Earmarks, GSEs, Healthcare, In The News, Pork, Waste, Wastewatcher
