President Obama announced this week that he would override Congress and end a six-month funding freeze that shut down the Palestinian version of Sesame Street and other projects. The United States has contributed about $500 million annually to the Palestinians over the past decade, including millions to train security forces.
Palestinian lawmaker Abdallah Abdallah said the money "will definitely contribute to the betterment of the economic situation, but it's not a substitute for American wrong policy." He derided the U.S. as "impotent" in criticizing Israeli policies like settlement construction in the West Bank.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Foreign Aid To China
China is one of the biggest economies in the world and grew at more than 9 percent over the last year. It also has loaned more than $1 trillion to the U.S. to fund its deficit-spending. But at the same time, the U.S. sends tens of millions of dollars in foreign aid to China.
"I think the Chinese are just laughing whenever they receive a check" said Dan Ikenson, a trade economist at the CATO Institute. "How silly this is of the United States to be subsidizing the faster-growing, second-largest economy in the world."
"I think the Chinese are just laughing whenever they receive a check" said Dan Ikenson, a trade economist at the CATO Institute. "How silly this is of the United States to be subsidizing the faster-growing, second-largest economy in the world."
Entitlement Addiction
In June of 2010 Leroy Hick won $2 million in a Michigan state lottery TV show. In May of 2011, the Detroit News noted that, according to Hick’s attorney, Michigan’s state “Department of Human Services determined he was still eligible for food stamps.”
The News also noted that, “Eligibility for food stamps is based on gross income and follows federal guidelines; lottery winnings are considered liquid assets and don’t count as income. As long as Fick’s gross income stays below the eligibility requirement for food stamps, he can receive them, even if he has a million dollars in the bank.”
The reason that automobile giants GM and Chrysler went bankrupt in 2009 is that they had, for the most part, ceased to become car companies and had instead become pension and healthcare providers for millions of Americans. The U.S. federal government is not only a pension and healthcare provider, but it also has massive housing, food, and child-care programs as well.
The News also noted that, “Eligibility for food stamps is based on gross income and follows federal guidelines; lottery winnings are considered liquid assets and don’t count as income. As long as Fick’s gross income stays below the eligibility requirement for food stamps, he can receive them, even if he has a million dollars in the bank.”
The reason that automobile giants GM and Chrysler went bankrupt in 2009 is that they had, for the most part, ceased to become car companies and had instead become pension and healthcare providers for millions of Americans. The U.S. federal government is not only a pension and healthcare provider, but it also has massive housing, food, and child-care programs as well.
College Money Pit
Government outlays intended to hold down the price of a college degree have ballooned from $29.6 billion in 1985 to $139.7 billion in 2010 - an increase of 372%. Yet, Colleges are more unaffordable than ever.
Federal financial aid is a major source of revenue for colleges and universities, and aid packages are generally based on the gap between what a family can afford to pay to send a student to a given college, and the tuition and fees charged by that college. That gives schools every incentive to keep their tuition unaffordable. Why would they reduce their sticker price to a level more families could afford, when doing so would mean kissing millions of government dollars goodbye?
Directly or indirectly, government loans and grants have led to massive tuition inflation. That has been a boon for colleges and universities, where budgets, payrolls, and amenities have grown amazingly lavish. And it has been a boon for politicians, Republicans and Democrats alike, who are happy to exploit anxiety over tuition to win votes.
But for students and their families, let alone for taxpayers who don’t go to college, it has been a disaster. The more government has done to make higher education affordable, the more unaffordable it has become.
Federal financial aid is a major source of revenue for colleges and universities, and aid packages are generally based on the gap between what a family can afford to pay to send a student to a given college, and the tuition and fees charged by that college. That gives schools every incentive to keep their tuition unaffordable. Why would they reduce their sticker price to a level more families could afford, when doing so would mean kissing millions of government dollars goodbye?
Directly or indirectly, government loans and grants have led to massive tuition inflation. That has been a boon for colleges and universities, where budgets, payrolls, and amenities have grown amazingly lavish. And it has been a boon for politicians, Republicans and Democrats alike, who are happy to exploit anxiety over tuition to win votes.
But for students and their families, let alone for taxpayers who don’t go to college, it has been a disaster. The more government has done to make higher education affordable, the more unaffordable it has become.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
2012 Congressional Pig Book Summary
The Citizens Against Government Waste has released its annual Pig Book which lists pork-barrel spending by members of congress. Click here to view a copy.
The latest installment of CAGW’s 21-year exposé of pork-barrel spending includes $255 million to upgrade the M1 Abrams tank (which is opposed by the Pentagon), $5,870,000 for the East-West Center, a pet project of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), $3,388,000 for national fish hatchery system operations, and $3,000,000 for aquatic plant control.
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing more than 1.2 million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW’s mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency at all levels of government.
The latest installment of CAGW’s 21-year exposé of pork-barrel spending includes $255 million to upgrade the M1 Abrams tank (which is opposed by the Pentagon), $5,870,000 for the East-West Center, a pet project of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), $3,388,000 for national fish hatchery system operations, and $3,000,000 for aquatic plant control.
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing more than 1.2 million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW’s mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency at all levels of government.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
$600 Million in Improper Retirement Payments
A retirement fund for federal workers improperly paid out an average of $120 million annually over the last five years, a new inspector general's report has revealed.
"The amount of post-death improper payments is consistently $100-$150 million annually, totaling over $601 million in the last five years. In addition, the balance due the government related to these improper post-death payments during the last five years has risen much faster (70%) than total annuity payments (19%)" wrote Inspector General Patrick E. McFarland of the Office of Personnel Management.
"The amount of post-death improper payments is consistently $100-$150 million annually, totaling over $601 million in the last five years. In addition, the balance due the government related to these improper post-death payments during the last five years has risen much faster (70%) than total annuity payments (19%)" wrote Inspector General Patrick E. McFarland of the Office of Personnel Management.
Drug Laws Waste Billions of Dollars
Since Reagan began the "War on Drugs" back in the 1980s, billions of dollars have been spent on enforcing drug laws and incarcerating offenders. Yet, most high school students can get drugs easier than alcohol. Most major crimes in the U.S. are drug related. Our prisons are over-crowded. Clearly, our government's current approach to drugs simply does not work. You would think that we would have learned something from Prohibition.
I believe it was Einstein who said "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". It's time our government tries something different. Fortunately, it has a successful model that should be considered. In 2001 Portugal abolished all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine and jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy. In most respects, it seems to have worked: serious drug use is down significantly, particularly among young people; the burden on the criminal-justice system has eased; the number of people seeking treatment has grown; and the rates of drug-related deaths and cases of infectious diseases have fallen.
I believe it was Einstein who said "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". It's time our government tries something different. Fortunately, it has a successful model that should be considered. In 2001 Portugal abolished all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine and jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy. In most respects, it seems to have worked: serious drug use is down significantly, particularly among young people; the burden on the criminal-justice system has eased; the number of people seeking treatment has grown; and the rates of drug-related deaths and cases of infectious diseases have fallen.
Cost of Air Force One
Travel by Air Force One costs over $180,000 per hour. This week the President made trips to campuses in North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa to talk about the cost of college. Was this the best use of taxpayer dollars or just another way to campaign for re-election using taxpayer money.
Federal Job Training Programs Plagued by Fraud, Waste and Mismanagement
A newly released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report exposes a broken web of federal job training and employment programs. Nine federal agencies spent approximately $18 billion annually to administer 47 separate employment and job training programs. Many of the programs are duplicative, but GAO‘s most shocking revelation is that ― "little is known about the effectiveness of most programs".
Beyond the duplication and lack of demonstrable results, a glimpse into some of the federally funded job training programs reveals numerous examples of waste, mismanagement and even corruption. Some seeking job training, for example, spent their days sitting on a bus. High school students were knowingly exposed to the cancer causing agent asbestos as part of a job training program. Others were given training for jobs that did not exist, or were paid to sit through educational sessions about jobs they already had. Funds were misspent to pay a contractor for ghost employees and to purchase video games. Job training administrators spent federal funds on extravagant meals and bonuses for themselves. In one state, workforce agency employees took more than 100 gambling trips to casinos mostly during work hours. Elsewhere, a state employee steered federal job training funds to her son, a convicted criminal, who spent it on hotel stays, a $300 bar tab, cigars and pet care.
Beyond the duplication and lack of demonstrable results, a glimpse into some of the federally funded job training programs reveals numerous examples of waste, mismanagement and even corruption. Some seeking job training, for example, spent their days sitting on a bus. High school students were knowingly exposed to the cancer causing agent asbestos as part of a job training program. Others were given training for jobs that did not exist, or were paid to sit through educational sessions about jobs they already had. Funds were misspent to pay a contractor for ghost employees and to purchase video games. Job training administrators spent federal funds on extravagant meals and bonuses for themselves. In one state, workforce agency employees took more than 100 gambling trips to casinos mostly during work hours. Elsewhere, a state employee steered federal job training funds to her son, a convicted criminal, who spent it on hotel stays, a $300 bar tab, cigars and pet care.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Misuse of Taxpayer-Owned Assets
A report, entitled “Sitting on Our Assets: The Federal Government’s Misuse of Taxpayer-Owned Assets,” identifies up to a quarter of a trillion dollars in potential savings that could be achieved by eliminating waste, better managing critical federally-owned assets, and operating government programs with more efficiency. Click here to view the entire report.
Expensive Vacation
First lady Michelle Obama's trip to Spain in August 2010 cost the U.S. Air Force and the Secret Service at least $467,585 based on documents provided by the government under the Freedom of Information Act. Considering our country's 15 trillion dollar debt, it seems inappropriate for the president's wife and daughter to have taken such an elaborate vacation.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Gingrich & Secret Service
Gingrich's Secret Service detail costs taxpayers ~$40,000/day even though he has no hope of being the party's nominee.
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