| For Immediate Release | Contact: Curtis Kalin 202-467-5318 |
| August 18, 2016 |
(Washington, D.C.) – Today Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released its August 2016 WasteWatcher, a monthly dispatch to members of the news media, highlighting some of the most prominent fiscal issues affecting American taxpayers. The stories from its August edition of WasteWatcher are listed in part as follows:
By Curtis Kalin
One of the most crippling scandals of the Obama administration is poised to outlast the president’s time in office. The outrageous patient wait times at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinics nationwide have not waned since the issue burst into the public consciousness in 2014. Indeed, the scandal has widened and the depth of the misconduct has continued unabated. Read the full story here.
By Deborah Collier
The original mission of the Lifeline support program was to provide basic telephone service to low-income individuals. Since the expansion to include wireless phone services, the program has seen widespread mismanagement, waste, fraud, and abuse of the program. Read the full story here.
Remain Very Afraid of the Impact of Obamacare
By Elizabeth Wright
Frightening news is starting to trickle out about health insurance premium rate increases for 2017, and that is just the beginning of ongoing concerns about how Obamacare adversely affects individuals, families, businesses, insurers, and the healthcare market. Read the full story here.
Social Impact Partnerships: No Social Solyndras
By William M. Christian
Too often, Congress seems to blindly throw money at the problem du jour and then, without any measure of effectiveness, consider its work to be complete. CAGW has long suggested that members of Congress, in allocating scarce resources, focus instead on outcomes. A bipartisan effort in the House of Representatives attempts to do just that. Read the full story here.
Movement to Audit the Pentagon Gains Traction
By Sean Kennedy
Consensus in the nation’s capital is rare. However, the release of the official party platforms for 2016 has revealed another area of solidarity: auditing the Pentagon. Read the full story here.
Western Lands; the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
By Filip Cukovic
The history of federal land ownership in the West is long and complex. Today, the federal government owns 47 percent of all land in 11 continental western states. Western legislators have long fought for more control of these lands, which they believe their states could better manage. Read the full story here.
$30 million in Pell Grants for Prisoners
By Leah Lagoudis
On June 24, 2016 President Obama announced Second Chance Pell, a $30 million pilot program that would fully fund tuition, books, and related expenses for approximately 12,000 inmates to pursue college degrees. While there is evidence that education can improve recidivism rates and inmates’ quality of life, it should be done at the least possible cost to taxpayers. Read the full story here.
Set the Sun on Solar Subsidies
By Ally Schatz
In Nevada, one of many states where taxpayers have been subsidizing solar projects for years, the Public Utility Commission of Nevada (PUC) voted unanimously on December 23, 2015, to increase net metering rates over the next four years. Two days before the vote, SolarCity declared that it would cease operations in the state if the subsidies were repealed. However, the PUC’s decision did not mean the fight was completely over for Solar City and other providers. Read the full story here.
CAGW is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.