The General Services Administration’s (GSA) scandalous spending at a 2010 conference has gotten plenty of attention. Rightly so, because the GSA officials’ misconduct resulted in a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars. But there is much more than egregious abuses of public resources by federal employees and managers. One of the …
House Democrats described the budget they released yesterday as a “clear contrast” to the one introduced by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI). It is a clear contrast—but that’s not a compliment. The proposal, offered by Representative Chris Van Hollen (D–MD), ranking member of the Budget Committee, merely calls …
Yesterday, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D–MT) released a modified chairman’s mark on the Highway Investment, Job Creation and Economic Growth Act of 2012 (S. 1813). When combined with the other section of the bill, this draft transportation reauthorization bill would authorize the program for two years after the …
At the close of business, the federal government’s debt limit will increase by another $1.2 trillion, the final installment in a series of hikes that started last summer. This last increase, from $15.194 trillion to $16.394 trillion, was essentially granted in the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, passed August …
President Obama will release his annual budget proposal late yet again. Choosing the date is not merely a convention. By law, the President must release the budget by the first Monday in February, which falls on February 6 this year. Yet yesterday the Administration announced it will release its fiscal …
On Thursday, President Obama formally notified Congress that the total federal debt (debt subject to statutory limit) is within $100 billion of the debt limit and requested an increase of $1.2 trillion. The announcement comes as no surprise, because such an increase is the anticipated third and final installment of …
Dark clouds hover over the nation’s finances and threaten a perfect storm of massive debt and crushing taxation unless Congress starts acting—soon. Washington must demonstrate that it is serious about reining in ever-rising spending and reducing annual deficits. Passing commonsense reforms to our major entitlement programs (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social …
Last week, the independent California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group recommended that the state legislature not proceed with funding the proposed Los Angeles–San Francisco project. Its argument was grounded in concerns about “the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s plan to start construction without any assurance of future funding from the federal …
Oregon cheese, IHOP pancakes, and a Hawaiian chocolate festival. Your mouth may be watering right now, but watch out—there’s a bitter aftertaste. These foodstuffs are just three of 100 items in Senator Tom Coburn’s (R–OK) Wastebook 2011, a report detailing Washington’s egregious use of $6.9 billion in taxpayer dollars this …
With fiscal year 2012 spending bills now at the brink of completion, The Heritage Foundation’s Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012 has been updated to reflect the final tally. Combined with three bills enacted in November, the massive “megabus” legislation under consideration today brings total base discretionary budget authority to $1.0429 trillion, …
