Tad DeHaven
Washington's Fatal Conceit
Whether it’s the $700 billion TARP, the $787 billion stimulus package, or the late not-so-great Cash for Clunkers, policymakers are demonstrating that they’ll spare no taxpayer expense to “fix” the economy. The present recession has its roots in government policy, but whoever caused it, is the federal government even theoretically capable of righting the economic ship? Read more
Fraudsters Target Home Tax Credit
The Wall Street Journal reports that the IRS is investigating 100,000 “suspicious” tax returns over possibly fraudulent claims of home buyer tax credits. Included in the economic stimulus package in February, the $8,000 tax credits were set to expire at the end of November, but the housing lobby is pressing Congress for an extension. Read more
D.C. Lobbyist Milks Medicaid
The Washington Post reports on the curious case of David W. Wilmot, a D.C. lobbyist who also earns $300,000 a year as the head of a troubled nonprofit group that’s funded by Medicaid. D.C. officials have asked a judge to put two of the nonprofit’s group homes in receivership and halt all referrals to its eleven facilities because of “systemic” problems. Read more
D.C. Squanders Federal AIDs Money
The Washington Post has delivered an exposé on the rampant corruption and waste occurring in the District of Columbia’s HIV/AIDs Administration. According to the Post, “the agency receives about $100 million a year, largely from the federal government, for prevention, medical care, housing, case management and support services.” Read more
Fox Guarding Defense Henhouse
The Department of Defense’s Defense Contract Audit Agency is responsible for performing all contract audits at the department. Unfortunately, the agency seems to have developed an excessively cozy relationship with the contractors that it is supposed to be overseeing. That is bad news for taxpayers because of the massive size of DoD’s contracting activities. Read more
Energy Secretary Alarms Biofuels Lobby
Biofuels lobbyists have been successful in securing federal funding and regulatory support. As an industry that thrives on federal subsidies, any threat to its privileged status is a cause for alarm. This week Energy Secretary Stephen Chu set off such alarm when he told a group of alternative energy developers that “if it were up to me, I would put every cent into electric cars.” Read more
States Increase Lobbying
When the economy was growing, state and local governments spent money as if the good times would never end. But in the face of stagnant revenues, state and local governments are now spending record amounts of taxpayer money lobbying the federal government for a larger piece of Uncle Sam’s deficit-fueled budget. Read more
More Air Traffic Control Troubles
The Federal Aviation Administration is trying to implement a $35 billion overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system that would replace old-fashioned radar technology with modern satellite-based GPS navigation. But according to the Associated Press: Read more
Commerce to Rescue Michigan
U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke stopped by the economically beleaguered state of Michigan to announce the opening of a new “Commerce Connect” office in the city of Plymouth. According to the Detroit Free Press, the office “will act as a one-stop shop for businesses to access all the federal government has to offer, from research and development tools, to grants, to licensing assistance.” Read more
Failures Mount on Cash for Clunkers
It didn’t take a Ph.D. in economics to recognize that the federal “Cash for Clunkers” program would put upward pressure on used-car prices. In nominating it “the dumbest program ever” back in August, Chris Edwards noted that “low-income families, who tend to buy used cars, were harmed because the clunkers program will push up used car prices.” Read more
