The fiscal year (FY) 2012 homeland security appropriations bill is on the floor today. One would assume that this would be an opportunity for House members to get rid of wasteful programs while maintaining funding for the ones that make us safer. Instead, they are avoiding the hard choices that come with reallocating resources in a smart way, instead offering a simple amendment that would cut appropriations to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by 10 percent (except border security funding). This is a mistake for a number of reasons. …
With a looming state budget deficit of nearly $13 million, many Illinois residents are wondering if their state has its priorities in order. Last night, ABC7 Chicago’s Chuck Goudie revealed $67 million in recent state payments (PDF) for a variety of pet projects. While the state wrestles with the ramifications of such a huge budget shortfall, many wonder why payments continue for the sort of spending exposed in Goudie’s report. Among the expenses: Wilmette received $130,000 to build this bike path that was just one block long. Evanston got a check …
After enacting 93,000 earmarks at a cost of $200 billion over the past decade, lawmakers are finally taking the first steps to rein them in. First, House Democrats hinted they may announce a moratorium on earmarks to for-profit companies (while retaining them for non-profit organizations and state and local governments). Then, not be outdone, the House Republican conference today announced that they will not seek any earmarks in this year’s budget. This is a strong positive development. Earmarks distribute government grants by politics rather than by merit. Instead of submitting …
In a recent press release touting a federal fire grant, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) noted that because “firefighters put their lives on the line every day,” we face a “moral issue” that required us to use federal funds to buy the Somerville Fire Department equipment. The reality is that despite billions in grants across the United States, the Fire Act program has not reduced the number of firefighter deaths or fires. As David Muhlhausen pointed out in his seminal data analysis paper on the Fire Act program, “fire grants, including …
On Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Chuck Todd discussed an NBC poll that shows 70% of Americans say government isn’t working and commented that because of the “Tea Party crowd,” Republicans can no longer “go home and sell a piece of of pork that they got from Washington.” That’s a good thing. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Yet another controversy involving Congressional earmarks is brewing in Washington. This time around a lobbying firm, the PMA group (raided by the FBI in November), is accused of making fraudulent donations to members of Congress in exchange for federal pork directed toward their clients. Given mounting news reports of scandal involving earmarks, you’d think Members of Congress would jump at the opportunity to prove they’re clean. You’d be wrong. Two illuminating pieces of pork legislation were passed by the House yesterday. The first vote, the 2009 Omnibus appropriations bill, churned …
While the Obama Administration waffles on openness and transparency (see here and here), private citizens are stepping in to fill the void. The Heritage Foundation and other groups launched ReadtheStimulus.org to give citizens a chance to work their way through the massive spending proposal, flag suspicious language, and make suggestions. In other words, it’s a way for average citizens to do the work that too many of their elected officials are unwilling to do: actually reading and analyzing pending legislation. If the media buzz has been any indication, ReadtheStimulus.org has …
As states begin to line up for their portion of the Pelosi-Reid-Obama debt plan, many of them aren’t even waiting for the legislation to be passed to prepare the ways they can spend your tax dollars. In Wisconsin, Gov. James E. Doyle went as far as creating an “Office of Recovery and Reinvestment” to “start laying the groundwork for quickly moving the federal stimulus money out the door, to maintain jobs, to create new jobs and to invest in economic growth in the state.” America’s Dairyland turned to livestock and created its …
The crowd eager for a handout from the upcoming economic stimulus bill is growing. On December 8th, the US Conference of Mayors presented their wish list. The report, entitled “Mainstreet Economic Recovery,” lists 11,391 local infrastructure projects with a price tag totaling $73.2 billion. Unfortunately, the list is basically a massive collection of earmarks with little chance of stimulating the economy. As with any collection of pork, some peculiar plans have begun to surface. While the Mayors’ list contains scores of projects which could be easily defined as ineffective and …
There are several issues in Washington this week following the passing of the Bailout legislation. Here are some key issues to be aware of this week: Congress passed a massive Continuing Resolution to fund the government for the next year and inserted some ridiculous earmarks and special interest projects. Some ridiculous items include funding for blimps and squirrel hibernation. The bailout bill contains favorable tax provisions for special interest groups. Tax provisions for arrow shafts, directors and producers, and wool research David Kreutzer of The Heritage Foundation has written that …
