Posted on June 13th, 2013 by Tom Schatz
On June 13, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order No. 13576, which called for “Delivering an Effective, Efficient and Accountable Government.” In a short video released on June 12, 2011, President Obama identified specific examples of the types of savings that could be achieved through the Executive Order. He touted the entire effort as his ”Campaign to Cut Waste,” which, [...]
Filed under: Budget, Congress, Deficit, Internet, Technology, Waste | No Comments »
Posted on June 12th, 2013 by Casey Pifer
The Senate overwhelmingly approved its version of the Farm Bill on June 10, 2012 with a vote of 66-27. There is plenty to say about what is in the $955 billion legislation—with more than $760 billion for going to food stamps and nutrition programs, and billions more going to various other programs, it seems that [...]
Filed under: Agriculture, Congress, Farm Bill, In The News, Waste | No Comments »
Posted on June 7th, 2013 by Elliot Abrams
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is under heavy scrutiny after a report by the Inspector General (IG) at the Treasury Department. Recent videos have surfaced showing IRS employees practicing the popular dance, “the cupid shuffle” and parodying Star Trek. Costing more than $50,000, these videos add visual representations of the service’s recent misuse of tax [...]
Filed under: Corruption, In The News, Reform, Scandal, Waste | No Comments »
Posted on June 7th, 2013 by Tom Schatz
On June 6, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal released a poll that showed Americans blame welfare programs more than any other reason for persistent poverty in the United States. The poll was conducted between May 30 and June 2 and sampled 1,000 adults. Respondents were given a list of eight factors and were [...]
Filed under: Big Government, Budget, Congress, Deficit, Entitlements, Sequestration, Waste | No Comments »
Posted on May 31st, 2013 by Tom Schatz
As the Illinois legislature winds up the 2013 session by creating a new $750,000 “Forever Green Illinois Program” (it’s really there on pp. 8-9 of the 284-page budget bill) that would fund the “maintenance and beautification of greenery,” including grass, weeds, trees, shrubs, bushes, and plants on state or local government property, elected officials should also consider adopting a new official [...]
Filed under: Appropriations, Big Government, Budget, Debt, Deficit, State Issues, Taxes, Uncategorized, Waste | No Comments »
Posted on May 16th, 2013 by Tom Schatz
Every once in a while a politician or political operative says something with which everyone can agree. So today, for the first time, all of us at CAGW agree with David Axelrod to the extent that he acknowledged that the government is too big. Obviously we don’t agree that the size of the government excuses [...]
Filed under: Big Government, Budget, Waste | No Comments »
Posted on May 14th, 2013 by William Christian
“The farmers love this bill, The farmers love this bill, High, HIGH, the dairies go, The farmers love this bill!” While it’s a tortured version of the original, the verse scribbled above represents a more fitting rendition of the classic nursery rhyme these days, given ongoing congressional action. Today, the Senate will markup its version (S. [...]
Filed under: Agriculture, Big Government, Broadband, Budget, Congress, Entitlements, Farm Bill, Pork, Reform, Waste | No Comments »
Posted on April 12th, 2013 by Sean Kennedy
The Obama Administration may have just hammered the last nail into the coffin of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). As part of his fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget, President Obama refused to add money for the troubled program, keeping with his promise to cease funding following a two year proof of concept phase [...]
Filed under: Appropriations, Budget, Congress, Defense, Deficit, Earmarks, In The News, International, MEADS, National Security, Pork, Victories, Waste | No Comments »
Posted on April 11th, 2013 by Tom Schatz
A little-known but costly rider to the fiscal year 2013 continuing resolution has forced the U.S. Postal Service to withdraw its proposal to end Saturday delivery. This means that the USPS will continue to lose $2 billion annually that the agency sought to save by only delivering packages, which is one of the only profit-making [...]
Filed under: Appropriations, Budget, Congress, Deficit, Postal Service, Waste | No Comments »
Posted on April 5th, 2013 by Sean Kennedy
A senior naval commander believes the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) lacks appropriate firepower. On March 28, 2013, Bloomberg News reported that in a classified memo Vice Admiral Tom Copeman, commander of naval surface forces, called on the Navy to reconsider a vessel with more offensive capability following the completion of the first 24 LCS ships. [...]
Filed under: Defense, In The News, National Security, Navy, Waste | No Comments »
