President Obama and other supporters of increasing government spending on preschool have argued that “investments” on early childhood education yield big results later in life. As President Obama told an audience last March, “For every dollar we invest in these programs, we get nearly $10 back in reduced welfare rolls, fewer health care costs, and less crime.” The president and other preschool backers generally base these claims on impressive results from one or two small-scale preschool programs that existed decades ago and that have not been replicated since. Unfortunately, a …
In the latest salvo in the war against wireless, media activist group Free Press last week proclaimed that “carriers are using…inflated early termination fees to lock millions into long-term contacts — and customers want out.” It then urged for the FCC to intervene to stop the practice. This would be a mistake. There are plenty of reasons why termination fees make sense for consumers. More importantly, consumers who don’t like them have plenty of choices. In fact, only days after the folks at Free Press released their statement, Internet giant …
Following news this week that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has led to jobs being “created or saved” in Congressional districts that don’t exist, the GAO issued a new report warning that the U.S. Department of Education is falling down on its oversight responsibilities. The GAO reports that the U.S. Department of Education: …Has made uneven progress in implementing a department-wide, risk-based approach to grant monitoring…Has limited financial expertise and training, hindering effective monitoring of grantees’ compliance with financial requirements… Lacks a systematic means of sharing information on grantees …
A recent report released by the GAO, “Comprehensive Plan Needed to Address Persistent Foreign Language Shortfalls” (September 2009) announces that Foreign Service Officers do not have the necessary language skills they need to do their jobs effectively. While GAO has reported before that State Department personnel working overseas are in profound need of language skills it is disturbing that this trend has continued. According to the report: “As of October 31, 2008 31 percent of officers in all worldwide language designated positions did not meet both the foreign language speaking …
One key area that has been totally ignored in healthcare debate is the jaw-dropping amount of fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. We at the Center for Health Transformation believe that $100 billion a year is a conservative estimate. Our new book, “Stop Paying the Crooks” outlines examples of that waste and offers dozens of suggestions on how to fix the problems. Consider just two examples: In January, 2009 the Government Accountability Office issued a report that said $32 billion of improper payments were made in the …
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is about to release a new study reporting links between Venezuela and increased cocaine trafficking. The report notes that shipments of cocaine transiting Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela increased from 60 metric tons in 2004 to 260 metric tons in 2007. (The State Department says 300 metric tons in 2008.) The report will also highlight sustained links between Venezuela and the narco-terrorists of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). According to the GAO, corruption in Venezuela’s National Guard “poses the most significant threat.” The National Guard …
Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that investment in renewable energies, and the green jobs that go with it, is being stifled by the stimulus. How? No one knows where, when, or if the stimulus money from Washington will arrive, sowing uncertainty among investors and businesses alike: New incentive programs haven’t yet been defined, and uncertainty about program rules has deterred investors from backing companies that also may get government money. At the same time, companies are holding off from accepting private capital because of the possibility of getting it more …
The USA Today cites an independent report that questions the effectiveness of the ground-based missile defense interceptors the United States plans to deploy in Europe to counter a potential long-range Iranian nuclear-tipped ballistic missile threat. The report comes from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an auditing and investigative arm of the Congress. While GAO reports may be “independent,” that does not mean they provide a fair and credible assessment of Pentagon programs. Last week, Army leaders held a press conference after a GAO report claimed to have identified a $21 …
Last week the Government Accountability Offices (GAO) released a report calling for better oversight of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 287(g) state and local law enforcement training program. We agree that the program could use additional oversight, but the GAO report also recommends a fundamental rethinking of the program that defeats its original purpose. Heritage analysts Jena Baker McNeill and Diem Nguyen explain: The report proposes that the program’s objective should be to only address serious criminal activity and that officers who check the immigration status of those committing …
Americans would do well to ponder the unrelieved strains on the nation’s military readiness on this Veterans Day, one short week after the election of a new president and Congress. The Army’s readiness is particularly low. Seven years of combat overseas have exacted a grinding toll on all our military services, including the National Guard and Reserves. Among the symptoms: compromised training, shortfalls in deploying personnel and equipment, less maintenance for worn-out weapons, and truncated downtime at home before troops must redeploy. Despite the economy’s woes, President-elect Barack Obama and …
