In July, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report showing that, as many Americans suspect, there are places where government safety net programs are abused and ripe for reform. GAO focuses on two programs, unemployment insurance (UI) and disability insurance (DI), and the “double dippers” who collect payments from …
Last night, in his nationally televised speech, former President Bill Clinton said the charge that President Obama has gutted welfare reform was “a real doozy.” Clinton, who vetoed welfare reform twice before signing the welfare reform law in 1996, echoed the Obama Administration and media “fact checkers,” who have sworn …
According to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, federal health standards limiting radiation from cell phones are outdated and don’t reflect the latest research in the field. The watchdog agency urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reassess its current rules. The Members of Congress who requested the study—Representatives …
Amtrak spent $1.70 for every dollar it earned on food and beverage sales last year, leading to a loss of $84.5 million on the service, according to information provided to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee this week. Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) blasted the “inefficient and wasteful” record of …
A new Government Accountability Office report reveals that in more than 40 states a growing number of households are able to collect food-stamp benefits simply by receiving a government-issued brochure or accessing a toll-free number. For example, in states like Alabama, Hawaii and Montana, a brochure automatically triggers eligibility in …
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has doled out millions of dollars in subsidies to farms on which farming isn’t actually taking place, according a new report from government watchdogs. Billions more have gone towards supporting farms that don’t grow the crops for which they’re being subsidized. USDA gave nearly $3 …
President Obama’s stimulus package subsidized home loans for individuals who already owed the federal government millions in back taxes, according to a new report by federal watchdogs. The report, released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office, found that the Federal Housing Administration, a division of the Department of Housing and …
An Obama administration decision to cancel a government contract for aerial firefighting planes in 2011 has left the U.S. Forest Service’s airborne fleet depleted as rapidly moving wildfires spread throughout the state of Colorado and elsewhere in the country amid excessive heat and extremely dry weather conditions. The reduction in …
Less than a month from tax day, a pair of reports from federal watchdogs raises serious concerns about the Internal Revenue Service’s handling of sensitive and confidential taxpayer information. Potential security problems reportedly stem from inadequate measures to ensure the security of digital information, and from the IRS’s failure to …
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has a powerful ally in the fight to eliminate wasteful duplication in government programs: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced the two lawmakers are teaming up for a bipartisan, House-Senate effort to eliminate overlapping and unaccountable government services that cost taxpayers more than $100 billion …
