Preventing fraud is much more effective if it is done before money is spent rather than chasing it afterwards. Since the Government Accountability Office (GAO) first identified improper payments as a systemic government-wide issue in 1997, the enactment of the Improper Payments Act of 2002 and three related bills through 2019 did not stop them […]
Among all means of transportation, there has always been a fascination with railroads. Thousands of rail cars are loaded with goods and passengers and pulled toward their destinations by powerful locomotives. Millions of miles of steel tracks span across the vast American continent, reminding the nation what can be achieved with hard work and industrial […]
As the lure of socialism grows across America, “free” grocery stores, transportation, housing, and even diapers sound enticing. Politicians have been promising these and other giveaways to garner support for their elections. It all sounds good on the surface, but they come with a cost that is not always disclosed to the public until it […]
Concerns over economic inequality and concentration of wealth, costly healthcare and education, lack of affordable housing, social injustice, along with a dislike of capitalism, have led to a resurgence of support for socialist policies. While there is no harm in intellectual curiosity, socialism will not improve affordability, because someone will still need to pay for […]
Welcome to This Week in Waste, a series by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) that highlights how taxpayer dollars are being wasted in the federal, state, and local levels of government and efforts to fight back against this spendthrift behavior. CAGW Names Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann May 2026 Porkers of the Month CAGW […]
Reducing duplicative programs and services is a proven method of increasing the efficiency of any organization. On May 12, 2026, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual report on overlapping federal programs with duplicative or fragmented goals, which it has been doing since 2011. The 2026 report found 610 unresolved and 97 new matters […]
The Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank was established in 1934 to encourage American exports. However, the bank subsidizes large and profitable companies that would otherwise have no difficulty in obtaining funding from the commercial banking system and is a waste of taxpayer resources. Last reauthorized by Congress in 2019, the Ex-Im Bank’s current authorization will expire on […]
Kids in the lower-income households of Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas may find their Easter baskets a little less sweet this year. Across the country, state policymakers are pushing legislation requesting the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to restrict what Americans receiving federal food assistance can buy with their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program […]
In 1995, the House of Representatives passed a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) to the Constitution, but it failed in the Senate by a single vote. The budget deficit in fiscal year (FY) 1995 was $164 billion. It is now $38.7 trillion. On February 11, 2026, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its budget outlook for […]
Congress continues to untangle the Minnesota fraud scandal, which was first flagged in Congress by Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minn.) in 2018 and then repeatedly brought up by whistleblowers. There have been three hearings on Capitol Hill since the beginning of the second session of the 119th Congress exposing how Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and […]
